Why I Oughta...

We went to Al's #1 Italian Beef over the long holiday weekend and on the wall there were just a handful of photo endorsements.  The usual suspects of Mayor Daley, Steve 'The Hungry Hound' Dolinsky were up there.  And so were a few wrasslers . And then there was this Paula Deen one.  Prominently displayed for all to see.    Seems her clout on food issues has dropped a bit, hasn't it?   Or...once you get a Paula Deen photo, you keep that photo?  Is that the case?

On Saturday, we went to Angelo Caputo's up in Addison for some various items including the Chellino Scamorza Cheese that I use in our pizza making.  Unfortunately, Caputo's was all sold out.  Weird.  But, I didn't want to give up, so Nat pulled out her phone and found this place:  Amici's Italian Deli and Fruit Market in Westmont.  We called them and asked if they carried Chellino Scamorza?  Sure enough, they have a lot of it they said. When we arrived, I immediately went to the refridgeration case and saw these beauties. A whole dollar cheaper than Caputo's at $5.99. We found a few other items to pick up, but didn't give the store a real good once-over.  It appears to be a solid Italian deli with the majority of the customers milling around in the back by the deli counter.  Lots of cuts of meat, lots of sliceable meats.  We'll give it a shot for lunch one day soon.

TOM’S TAILGATER ITALIAN BEEF COURTESY OF Steve Dahl  and  DAHL.COM Ingredients: One 3 ½ to 4 pound boneless beef chuck pot roast One package of Zesty Italian Salad Dressing and Recipe Mix One 16 oz. jar of hot giardiniera One 16 oz. jar of mild giardiniera One dozen baguettes (French rolls) Directions: In a four-quart Crock-Pot, pour in one bottle of giardiniera. Place the roast on top of the layer of giardiniera. Sprinkle the salad dressing mixture on top of the roast. Add the second bottle of giardiniera to the top of the roast. Cover Crock-Pot and cook on high for 6 to 8 hours. When fork tender, shred the roast in the Crock-Pot and allow it to combine with the other ingredients. Slice the baguettes in half and pile on the beef and giardiniera mixture. ------------------------------------ For the babe's baptism party, we hosted a collection of family and friends back at our house after the church proceedings. We ordered some of the food from Maggiano's in