Strawberry Blooms - 2012

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See those green-ish strawberries forming on the vines?  This is the third year of this Strawberry plant and - if we can get to these before the birds do - we'll finally have enough to eat.

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Honey Bear Farm - Powers Lake Wisconsin - And Chicago Alderman Ed Burke

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Last Summer, I was up at the Lake Geneva Walmart buying our fishing license when I noticed a guy who looked familiar in a trench coat inspecting a kayak along with a youngish other man.  I looked them over and couldn't right away figure out who it was.  Then it clicked.  It was Chicago Alderman Ed Burked and his (infamous) security detail.  Of course, that got me wondering what the Alderman was doing up there and a few searches on Google lead me to this story about how he came to acquire a place called Honey Bear Farm.  
On a recent run, Natalie came across this sign you see above:  Honey Bear Bay.  Kinda neat.  We had talked about my run-in with the Alderman and the name of the farm must have stuck because when she came back from the run, she showed me this photo.
As for the story, it is just *too* Chicago politics to believe.   From the Chicago Tribune: A subsidiary of Carson Pirie Scott & Co. sold an interest in prime Wisconsin real estate to two of the most powerful membe…
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Lou Malnati's Salad Dressing Recipe as Published in the 60's

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Earlier this winter, I wrote about the old Lou Malnati's menu and mentioned that as I was waiting around for my pie to finish up, I spied an old Chicago Tribune article posted on the wall that included the original Lou Malnati's Italian Salad Dressing Recipe.  The Tribune reporter called it "prized".  We were set to host a little pizza party over the weekend, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  Here's the article as seen through my mobile phone's camera.
I'm not a wine drinker, so the fact that the recipe called for Burgundy wine didn't strike me as odd.  I went shopping at Angelo Caputos in Addison - a really incredible shopping experience - and when I got to the wine section I found Burgundy wine was carried ONLY in those HUGE jugs.  And they were dirt cheap.  The only issue is that needed just 4 ounces.  We ended up with a whole-lotta-wine that Nat won't drink.

I've taken the recipe and modified it a bit by eliminating the percentages (60…
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Lou Malnati's Sweet Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

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**NOTE**  If you're looking to make your own version of this dressing, you should check out the recipe I posted back here:  Lou Malnati's Salad Dressing Recipe.

Last week, I was in the Elmhurst Lou Malnati's picking up a pie and noticed that they're NOW selling a bottled version of their salad dressing they've called "Lou Malnati's Sweet Vinaigrette".    That's the second consumer packaged good they have in their take-out shops - with the first being Lou Malnati's Tomatoes.    They sell it in 16 oz jars.

I didn't catch a price, but I did catch a photo of the ingredient list.
Hmmm...comparing that to the Lou Malnati's salad dressing recipe, it seems that there are a few differences.  First, the bottled dressing uses corn oil (listed first) and olive oil (listed way down), while the recipe posted in the Tribune back 40+ years uses olive oil.  The bottled dressing also has mustard, "natural flavors" and a few different preservat…
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