For some reason I keep thinking of the words to a song as I think about Valentine’s Day 2023. “These are a few of my favorite things…” and I miss being close to my longtime friends and my favorite places in Naperville and its surrounding areas.
Every day should start with a good breakfast. Fiene’s Bakery has wonderful pecan rolls. Of course, I would need a lemon square, too.
For lunch, I wish I could go to Kreger’s for a bratwurst to celebrate the special day. Luckily, I still have a few Kreger bratwurst in my freezer. I got them the last time I was in Naperville. If you freeze them first, you can even fly them all the way to Hawaii. But I’ve found that it’s better to put frozen bratwurst in checked luggage since TSA can get nervous if you try to bring long cylindrical objects in carryon luggage.
I haven’t found a good place to get shakes in Texas. I wish I could go to Buona Beef during Happy Hour and get a strawberry shake with my friends. Sometimes we would stop there after going to Lindt in the Outlet Mall. I think the candy shop has at least 30 different flavors for the little chocolate balls. You can’t do that near my home because they don’t have a Lindt shop in Texas. Someone said it was because it is too risky to ship chocolate to this area. Considering it’s mid-January while I write this column and we reached a high of 85 degrees today, I think that sounds logical to me. Chocolate did not always arrive in its original form when I sent care packages to my sons while they were serving in the Persian Gulf. (But they told me it still tasted good.)
Not all my favorite things are food. I miss being able to go to a play at the Paramount Theater in Aurora. Their newest production, “Into the Woods,” starts February 1 and runs through March 19.
I hope you find a favorite thing to do to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day. As for me, I’ll have to be content eating the Kreger’s bratwurst and Lindt chocolate balls I bought the last time I was in Naperville.
Editor’s Note / Remember! Kreger’s Brats and Sausage Haus, family-owned and operated since 1893, is open from 10AM to 3PM Fridays and Saturdays at 605 N. Ellsworth. However, the popular sausage maker where the wurst is the best will be on vacation from Feb. 12 through April 7. 2023.
