I survived the Springfield, IL horse shoe

This shirt should exist. We did it today, folks. Matt and I officially became Springfieldians. You might be wondering how we accomplished this life milestone. Did we take a citizenship test? No. Did we argue our case before the mayor? Nope. Did we get a library card? No. Well, at least not yet. Did we watch a marathon of The Simpsons?...

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The Agony of [Pierogi] Defeat and the Ecstasy of [Bibimbap] Victory

We certainly have run the culinary gamut this week. On Sunday, I decided to try my hand at Polish cooking by trying out this Potato and Cheese Pierogi recipe from My Gourmet Connection. The result of this adventure, unfortunately, was neither very gourmet nor very connected to what a pierogi is actually supposed to look like. After about...

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Food = Love

Truer words were never spoken, Rocco! I mean, it worked for me! Example A:  Success! ...

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Dear Italy: "Grazie" for the Affogato

I was sorting through a box of some photos the other day and came across a picture taken on my trip several years ago to Italy. It's a photo of me smiling serenely, sitting at a street side Italian cafe. I'm most certainly smiling because of the delicious lunch I'd just eaten: a crisp, classic pizza Margherita with a cool bottle of water....

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A Shameless Plug for Springfield, IL

Hey all! Hope everyone's having a great summer so far. (Technically, the first day of summer is this Friday, June 21, but we all know what's up.) We've been here in Springfield for about two and a half weeks, and things are going pretty well so far (a.k.a. I haven't received my credit card bill yet...let's just say we've been to Target...

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A Little Saturday Evening Thought...

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Pesos, Pennies, and Pounds, Oh My!

I know, you're sitting there, agonized, thinking, "What am I going to do with all of this discontinued foreign currency I have sitting around?" Turns out that I'm plagued with the same problem. Interesting that it never seems to happen to me with American money...but I digress. Thanks to some traveling, our families' travels, and some good...

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Fire-breathing Broccoli

I have devised the best, most insane, almost masochistically spicy, delicious dish ever. Aaaaaaand it's a veggie. All the men reading this post probably just groaned. Yes, a veggie. Broccoli, to be exact, one of my favorite veggies in the entire world (bested only by asparagus and potatoes of any variety). It's an amazing food, really;...

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Mastering the Art of Asian Cuisine

I'm on an Asian kick lately, which probably contributed to the fact that what I made for dinner tonight left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied. Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese...you name it, I want it. And tonight's dinner was none of those delicious things. On tonight's menu was parmesan pork roast (weird sounding and equally weird tasting)...

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Making our home in the Land of Lincoln

It has been a while! Matt and I have completed our big move from Lincoln, Nebraska to Springfield, Illinois and are working on settling into our new home. We moved here on Friday, May 31, after a few unfortunate delays including a flat tire and impressive severe weather. But we made it! We're still moving things in, and so I won't post pictures...

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