Todd and I took a long weekend trip to Chicago in January. The primary purpose of the trip was to see a Blackhawks game, but we ended up doing a lot more than taking in the Hawks vs. the San Jose Sharks, among which was the second event we made reservations for: dinner with Leesa [...]

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I came across this linked recipe for Chicago pastry chef Mathew Rice’s Gooey Butter Cookies one day on Pinterest. I’d asked Todd for a stand mixer for Christmas — I even picked out the exact one I wanted (the cheapest KitchenAid one, 4.5-qt, white) and Wish List-ed it on Amazon — but I didn’t really [...]

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I don’t have a photo to go with this recipe because my corn tortillas cracked open when I was rolling the darned things. While the finished product looked like a mess, it tasted great. I got the original recipe from a blog that got it from America’s Test Kitchen, but I tweaked it a little [...]

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We’ve reached the more-than-halfway point in the two-week dairy embargo. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I’m afraid that it’ll be like driving Pali Highway, where I’ll just transition from one tunnel to another. Will wheat gluten be next? Good God, I hope not. I’m seeing an acupuncturist Friday [...]

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So we all know that I love, love, love Chicago. I also love food, so it follows that I love — are you ready for it? — Chicago food. And who doesn’t like a good deep dish pizza? Fresh out of the Lou Malnati’s oven on Wells. If you say you don’t like deep dish, [...]

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In case you haven’t got the word through Facebook or Twitter, my friends and I have started a menus “blog.” It’s not a traditional blog, exactly, but I’ve been wanting to put together an Internet-accessible compendium of takeout menus, etc., for a while, but I just couldn’t figure out a user-friendly way to display them. [...]

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I finally had some time off this past week, so you know what that means: CHICAGO! Yes, we already covered that ground earlier this year . . . but that was during hockey season. Now it’s time for some BASEBALL! We were only in the Midwest for a slightly extended holiday (Kamehameha Day) weekend, which [...]

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I know, it seems like there should be an entire blog devoted to food in Chicago. There probably is one, but that blog isn’t mine, so Chicago food is only going to get a few entries here – a few entries per year, anyway. I thought I’d tackle salads first. Here are my favorite salads [...]

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I’m always up for a good cold soup. I haven’t had too much experience with vichyssoise, but Assagio makes a pretty decent one. Alan Wong makes the best basic chilled tomato soup ever, and I order it all the time at the Pineapple Room. But my absolute favorite cold soup is gazpacho: Everybody makes theirs [...]

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This one was originally constructed by a co-worker as a salad, but some people at the office thought it was a salsa and consumed it as such. Either way, it’s an easy, fresh, zesty treat that’s easily adapted to your tastes – and there’s no “cooking” involved, so it’s super quick! Corn & Black Bean [...]

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