Why I Oughta...

We were out at Fitz's on St. Patrick's Day and I spotted these coasters on our table. Good to see the 'new' Block I out there being used (notice the inside curves on the top/bottom of the I).  Too bad that the squad not only missed the Big Dance, but also got run out of the gym in the NIT. Winning the Chicago market for the team means being in/around sports bars.  This small touch - these coasters - is a nice move for the team and the brand. Guessing this is coming out of the relationship that was established when the Illini named Coors Light the 'official beer' of the Fighting Illini back last fall .  Nat got me a shirt for Christmas with the new branding on it, but I still have LOADS of the old stuff in my drawers/closets.

Christopher George Weaver is the Mayor of Main Street USA at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.  "Pull the lever and vote for Weaver!" is his slogan. Did you even know that Main Street, USA at Disney World had a Mayor?  I'm not sure I did. But...as we entered the park one morning, Nat spotted him walking around Main Street.  We chased him down and asked for a photo.  He pulled his card out and gave us one.  Mr. Weaver said that this card would get us in the 'back of any line in the entire park'.  After a little chit-chat, we took a photo with him and the girls and he couldn't have been a nicer guy. And who doesn't like his honesty, right?  All politicians should be so forthcoming with their intentions...

We got back from our trip down to DisneyWorld in Orlando and I wanted to share some of the new 'things' that we experienced.  I'll do that over the next few days, but wanted to share one that impressed me quite a bit out of the gate. We've been to Disney the past few years and wore MagicBands .  They're always worked flawlessly (for us!).  But this year, right before we went on our trip, we read about a new 'Direct-to-room' program where Disney will alert you via text and/or email that your room is ready and you can just arrive there .  The impressive part here is that your bands will just *magically* work! So, we arrived in the mid-morning, checked out gear with the Bell Desk and then headed out to one of the parks.  Sometime in the mid-afternoon, I received a text and this email above telling me that our room was ready and what the room number was.  (I blurred it out...not sure why...but figured it was just better to not have it posted here!). Thi

Just yesterday, I showed a few 'progress' shots of my latest Detroit-style pies.  While I'm pleased with how they're turning out, I think I've been stuck in a rut in terms of what they're made out of on toppings.  I go with sausage/pepperoni or soppressata almost everytime on one of the pies.  BBQ chicken is another common one.  I think I need to mix it up a bit.   For the past two weeks, I've been staring at  this post by Adam Kuban on Slice/Serious Eats from 2012  that shows a pie called the Saint Louie from a joint in Brooklyn.  It has provel on it - which all pizzanerds know about as a St. Louis exclusive.  And...I won't be copying that, but the toppings are interesting to me and I think there's likely a way to go a bit more "Chicago" by thinking about using giardiniera instead of the pickled peppers?  That kinda takes it away from 'nachos', though?  Ever had a pizza that reminded you of nachos?  The photos below tell the stor

I took this photo a week or so back ago at my in-laws place.  I was able to make a few pizzas for our Sunday night dinner over there.  On the left (in portrait mode) is a sausage and soppressata combo and on the right (in landscape mode) is a half bbq pulled pork (on the left) and cheese/tomato (on the right). A few notes:  The pie on the right was baked in one of my primary pans.  Meaning...it is well seasoned and has no trouble coming out of the pan.  On the left, that pie was cooked in one of my 'newer' pans.  I've been trying to rotate one of them in (I have 8 total!) on occasion to build up the seasoning on each of them a little bit at a time.  The problem is that I RARELY need to have all 8 going at once and usually only cook two pies at a time.  That means, my primary pans are in tip-top shape, but the other 6 go idle most of the time.  Unfortunately...when that once a year occasion arises and I have to cook more than 2 pies, I always stress about the shape of m

Have you heard of these little things called Shopkins?  You haven't? Well, let me tell you:  they're the devil.  My daughter is obsessed with them.  Seriously.  O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D.  They cause the biggest smiles AND the biggest tears in my house.  Yet, I can't divorce myself from them totally.  I keep enabling her with them.  For shame, Jake.  For shame.

Our bands arrived.  Our bands arrived.  Our bands arrived! Just like last year , I went with orange. The big difference?  There's a few more in the set this year than last. They usually ship these bands to you a month or so before you go and I have a feeling that in most households, the arrival of this box gets the kids all fired up.  But in ours?  I think I geeked out the most. As I said last year:  I couldn't be more excited to share all my personal identifiable information and payment details with a corporation!  Let's get after it.