We’re Loyal to You, Illinois!

Orange and Blue, Illinois!
Eric and I have something really important in common…we both bleed Orange and Blue! Fighting Illini Orange and Blue, that is! Not only is the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where we met, it’s also where we got to know each other, fell in love, had the time of our lives, and [...]

I made ‘em extra SLOPPY for ya’s!

“Lady, you’re scaring us!”
Okay, so I have every single line from Billy Madison mesmorized. I’ve only seen it, oh, half a million times in my ife. Still funny. Admit it…it’s funny. Yeah, that’s what I thought.
I served up this tasty little sammy to Eric last night and on his first bite, he promptly dribbled it [...]

E for Excellent

Wow! I came home from work this afternoon and jumped on my email to find that I received my first blog award!! Big thanks to Rachel over at Culinary Kicks for nominating me for the E for Excellent Award! Thank you, Rachel! Rachel’s blog rocks! I am for sure going to have to try her Pineapple [...]

Beef – It’s what he wants for dinner

Let me tell you a little something about Eric and me. We are what some might call…a bit of an odd match. So here I am, a suburban girl through and through. I grew up in the land of subdivisions, malls, 30 screen movie theaters , huge schools, crowds, traffic…pretty much all the things my [...]

Come on, everyone’s doing it.

I love the cooking board I frequent because it’s where I get all my food news. Someone always has some sort of juicy tidbit (heh…no pun intended) of foodie related gossip to share. When the gals started posting about these pumpkin spice flavored Hershey Kisses at Target, it started an all out Kiss fad! Everyone [...]

When I grow up…

There’s a really neat blogging group that got started on the cooking board I frequent called Barefoot Bloggers. This fabulous group was started by Tara over at Smells Like Home and she had the great idea to gather up a group to cook and bake their way through Ina Garten’s books. What an awesome concept!
I’m [...]

Orange good, Chocolate great…

Orange and chocolate…really, REALLY great!
It seems like the chocolate/fruit combination is a love it or hate it kind of thing. I love it! I know some people don’t care for it at all. Chocolate and strawberry is always good. Chocolate and cherry too. I don’t care for chocolate and raspberry quite as much, but I’ll [...]

Cool, (no) Beans!

Raise your hand if you have a hubby who says he doesn’t like beans. Yeah, me too.
When I was a kid, I’d pass on anything that had beans in it, but now that I’m older I find myself liking them more and more. Eric will pick them out of everything so I rarely cook with [...]

The ULTIMATE in Comfort Food

Let’s talk comfort food. Those things that remind you of Sundays dinners at home, that take you right back to a simpler, more uncomplicated time. It’s like a meal that’s just as familiar and feels just as good as big bear hug from someone you love.
The best thing about comfort food is that it is [...]

An Apple-y Alternative.

So, the traditional side with my family’s delicious roast pork and dumplings is, of course, sauerkraut. Ehhhhh….I don’t love it. And I know for sure Eric would have no part of that. So I reached back in my memory file and remembered that you could often get applesauce as a side with a meal like [...]