Chicago Architecture Tours by boat on the Chicago River are a pretty spectacular way to visit the city.
Details about the boat tours follow:
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
The book Fire and Clay: How Bricks Reveal the Hidden History of Chicago by Will Quam recounts Chicago’s history through the development of brick.
Details about this book from the University of Chicago Press follow:
https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/465/#cv/priority/%5Esmartlabel_promo/19d2f4755400207e
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
Mouly-Carlson Family Establishes Endowed Chair to Advance Game Design and Media Innovation at the University of Chicago.
Details about this milestone gift to the University of Chicago follow:
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
The University of Chicago Press Book Sale is on till June 15, 2026.
There are many deals under $15.
Book lists and sale details follow:
https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/465/#cv/priority/%5Esmartlabel_promo/19d24ed5a8aaa204
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento at Games
The University of Chicago received a $50 Million Gift to Restore Ida Noyes Hall from Board of Trustees ChairmanDavid M. Rubenstein.
Details about the gift to update Ida Noyes Hall follow:
Personal Note: I was a student office assistant in the Student Activities Office located in Ida Noyes Hall and helped inventory the University’s collection of Marc Chagall paintings that students can take out on loan. I also helped organize campus concerts in this building where the Major Activities Board had an office in the 1980s. Lots of good memories here!
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
The University of Chicago Press has just released Bicentenniel about the revolutionary history of the 1970s by Marc Stein. Bicentenniel refers to the 250th anniversary of the United States in 1976.
Details about the book follow:
https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/465/#cv/priority/%5Esmartlabel_promo/19d00f005ef9dd37
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
Yiyun Li will spray at three lectures at UChicago as part of the Berlin Family Lectures. Zoom attendance is possible for people who cannot attend in person.
Lectures occur on March 31, April 7, and April 14, 2026.
Details about this event follow:
https://mailchi.mp/uchicago.edu/invitation-humanities-day-on-october-5865889?e=cef015051e
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
The University of Chicago Press is offering a free e-book for March on the science and cultural norms around breastfeeding - Back to the Breast: Natural Motherhood and Breastfeeding in America by Jessica Martucci.
For information and download details click below:
https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/465/#cv/priority/%5Esmartlabel_promo/19cb46ae3d50b57f
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
Ghosts Behind Glass by Dolly Jorgensen published by the University of Chicago Press deals with how museums preserve records of extinction in the natural world.
Eco-tourists might enjoy this work with more details below:
https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/465/#cv/priority/%5Esmartlabel_promo/19c09f4b7659470d
Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The list of new professors at the University of Chicago is out. I always like reading this for books to read.
One book that looks particularly interesting is Shigehito Oishi’s Life in Three Dimensions about building a psychologically rich life at any age.
The list of new professors at the University of Chicago follows:
Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The following transcript repost from CBS provides a peek inside the University of Chicago’s gaming lab:
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/retro-bay-university-of-chicago-weston-game-lab/
Game on!
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Halo Founder and University of Chicago alumnus Alex Saropian interview at UChicago’s Year of Games follows:
https://news.uchicago.edu/story/trailblazing-halo-video-game-producer-advises-students-make-stuff
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Information and Pricing about Romance Languages and Civilizations books from the University of Chicago Press follow;
UChicago Press Romance Languages and Civilizations books
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Sesame Beef and Broccoli at Saigon Noodles in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
When I lived in downtown Chicago (Illinois) after I graduated from the University of Chicago, I ate sesame beef with broccoli at Chinese restaurants like Szechuan House and House of Hunan and felt like an empress doing so while working at my entry-level job in sales.
Later when I lived in Wisconsin, I bought a wok at a garage sale and restored it. I made broccoli beef myself to cook my own empress meals.
In my new town of Salinas, California, I tried sesame beef and broccoli at one of our local Vietnamese restaurants, Saigon Noodles, located on North Main Street by Grocery Outlet.
The Vietnamese stir-fry shallots in peanut oil and add in the beef with soy sauce and oyster sauce. The hot beef is finished with drizzles of sesame oil and sprigs of cilantro. The beef sauce is thick but not cloudy from the addition of cornstarch.
Many Chinese restaurants add cornstarch to stir-fry dishes at the end of cooking to add a glistening sheen to meat and vegetables. I think cornstarch “slurries” add calories and dull flavors a bit.
Fortunately, the stir-fry beef sauce at Saigon Noodles is savory, salty, and clear of cornstarch. I dipped my rice and steamed broccoli that came with my meal in the sauce and loved the rich flavor.
Saigon Noodles also offers this dish with chicken.
For a regal treat, I highly recommend the sesame beef with steamed broccoli and rice from Saigon Noodles in Salinas, California.
By Ruth Paget, Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
University of Chicago Online AI Courses and other Management Subjects Offered this Summer:
UChicago AI and Management Courses
Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Sliders and Kopi Luwak Coffee at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco, California by Ruth Paget
On a weekend trip to San Francisco (California), my husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I stayed at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins hotel atop Nob Hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The Hopkins is famous for its bar named The Top of the Mark that has a 360-degree view over San Francisco.
My daughter’s corner suite had a view on the Transamerica Building that was lit up in white at night with the Salesforce Tower gleaming in blue steel light next to it.
I ordered in-room service to admire the sunset and night view under a movie star chandelier. The Top of the Mark provides room service dining on Saturday nights.
I ordered California slider mini burgers filled with anise and apricot glazed short rib meat, cilantro, jalapeño peppers, and garlic aioli.
The California sliders were delectable and very different from the White Castle sliders I would eat with my friends from the University of Chicago on our forays into Chicagoland suburbs to learn about where the Democratic Machine obtained some of its money.
At breakfast the next day, I ordered the All American Breakfast with poached eggs, thick-cut bacon (much appreciated in Chicago, Illinois), pan-fried potato wedges, and whole wheat toast.
We ordered a 5-cup pot of coffee which cost $25.
“Why is the coffee so expensive,” I asked.
Florence said, “It’s kaya kopi luwak – about $200 for a 16-ounce bag.”
I tried it and liked it, despite being a Joffrey, Lavazza, Acme from Monterey County, and Dallmayr fan.
The view over the Pacific with the Transamerica and Salesforce buildings during the day was beautiful as well with many white cap waves on a gleaming blue ocean.
I had a restful weekend full of delicious meals and loved every moment of the San Francisco overnighter, which included lunch at Café de la Presse.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
June 30, 2026 is the tax deadline to make a gift to the University of Chicago. An online donation form follows:
University of Chicago Donation Form and Info.
Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
This is the final week of the University of Chicago Book Sale - savings up to 90% off!
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Nourishing Waffles by Ruth Paget
I learned that waffles, even toaster Eggo waffles, contain protein and calcium thanks to the egg and milk in their ingredients in my health and nutrition classes in junior high and high school in Detroit, Michigan where many descendants of Dutch origin live.
According to Wonderful Mini Waffles by Catherine-Gail Reinhard and the editors at Dash, waffles are Dutch and came to what is now the United States in the 1620s when the Dutch founded New Amsterdam (later named New York).
From New York, waffles spread throughout the US especially with Dutch settlers like my teachers and classmates in Detroit. My thin teachers told us to limit ourselves to two small waffles with two tablespoons maple syrup to keep calories down. (Maple syrup was readily available to us in Michigan.)
When I moved to Europe in the late 1980s, I ate warm waffles with powdered sugar on them that I bought from street vendors in Brussels, Belgium as I toured comfortably well off Brussels that is rich on lambic beer and the income of Europe’s civil servants.
Belgium is also a famous country for waffles thanks to the country’s Flemish population. The Flemish are the Catholic cousins of the Protestant Dutch north of Belgium.
Waffles are easy to make at home with a waffle iron. You have to remember to only fill the bottom of the iron with batter. You lower the top lid on top of the base. The waffles ingredients will make the waffle rise to double its size with the heat.
I own an excellent cookbook that has recipes for both sweet and savory waffles (162 pages) that was written as a companion book to go with a Dash mini waffle iron (4-inches in diameter). The cookbook entitled Wonderful Mini Wafles, was written by Catherine-Gail Reinhard. Three sweet waffle recipes stand out to make this book a great purchase.
The stand out recipes include:
-classic recipes made with eggs, milk, flour, and batter (waffle batter is made with more butter than pancakes)
-Belgian Liège waffles made like classic waffles with the addition of vanilla, honey, and cinnamon
-banana bread waffles made with mashed bananas, buttermilk, and brown sugar
Readers who might enjoy this book include:
-young families
-college students
-baby sitters
-lacto-ovo vegetarians
For everything about sweet and savory waffles, Wonderful Mini Waffles by Christine-Gail Reinhard is an excellent purchase.
(Note: To try waffles in Salinas, California check out Waffles Breakfast and Lunch Restaurant on North Main Street by Saigon Noodle and Grocery Outlet or IHOP on West Davis Road by Carl’s Junior, Sonic, Mountain Mike’s, Vallarta Supermarket and taqueria, 24-hour gas station, and AAA.)
(Note: Just making one of these recipes recipes in this book qualifies as a rallye game in my book.)
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
