Chicago-Style Pizza

So, after our deliciousness at Lou Malnati's, I decided to recreate the experience. It was yummy! Wanting to share in the wealth, but having no body around (except Joe and Brit, they're busy), I decided to post the recipe (it's more like instructions):

This picture is not my own. I forgot. But you'll get the basic idea.

Marika's Chicago-esque Pizza Deliciousness

1. Preheat'cher oven, with the rack at the very bottom, to 400*F.

2. Roll out a pre-made pie dough into a pie pan, 8x8, 9x9, or other dish that you think is appropriate, I think a spring-form would be ideal, but the move seems to have lost ours. I used a 9" pie pan (PS You gotta use metal).

3. Spread about half a pound of RAW Italian Sausage (hot if you like) into a disc or square or whatever. This recipe makes me sound stupid. But the sausage should cover the bottom.

4. In a couple of teaspoons of Olive Oil, sautee some mushrooms (I used about a cup of Creminelli, sliced) with 2 cloves of sliced gaaahlic (I'm Italian now) until the garlic begins to soften. Add 1/2 an onion, diced into large-ish pieces, and sautee until the onions begin to soften (you want them kinda crunchy so they don't melt in the pie). Spread this over the sausage, pressing it into the layer a little bit.

5. Drain 1/2 a loaf of fresh mozzarella (it comes in one-pound loaves, if you have a Costco, it's cheap there) and put it on top of the veggies in slices. It'll seem like a lot of cheese, but... It's not supposed to be THAT healthy, people!

6. I put some of our Jimmy John's pickled peppers on top of that, slightly chopped. I'm sure you could use other kinds, but JJ's is the BESTEST!

7. Cover with chunky tomato sauce (I made my own out of diced Italian stewed tomatoes, but you can just use some chunky Ragu or whatevs. Some of you have jobs/kids! The sauce should be pretty thick in consistency.)

8. Sprinkle Parmesean (the dry grated kind) or Pecorino Romano on top. Brush the part of the crust that still shows with some oil or butter or egg yolk or milk.

9. Bake at 400*F for 40 minutes. It's a pie, so let it rest until the juices get sucked up (I'm still not sure where those go, really), about 15 minutes. Slice (that's the hard part) and ENJOY!

If you make this, let me know! I'll come right over!

The Move is OVER!

Saturday, April 25th was the big day. We had already loaded up the truck, so all we had to do was jam our suitcases in, and we were off!

The truck was pretty cumbersome, but I luckily have a JJ to do stuff like... driving, dishes, and folding laundry. We took a final picture in our "old" apartment, and then we were officially homeless.

Our first stop for food came in Wyoming. We knew where we were when we ate there, but can't think of what the city's name is now... haha. Oops. BUT! If you ever see this restaurant, and like Thai food, you should eat there, it's way better than expected:

We then paid homage to the land where my ancestors (C.Y.) come from:

I ended up being lame and doing a lot of eating and a lot of this on the drive:

We saw a lot of this:

For those of you who have never made a cross country drive, and are curious, this was our route: I-80 through Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, DC, Virginia. I was excited to get my first view of the Mississippi, which was cool, I guess, and the Mid-West, which was... not cool. It was all very flat and boring, except the weather was somewhat entertaining, but has now caused some drama... more on that later.

We stayed the first night in Grand Island, Nebraska. It's not fun. Don't be jealous. We "slept in" as JJ likes to say (woke up at 9 AM, that's NOT late), and got on the road by 10 (after biscuits and gravy... gotta remember the important parts). We had scheduled a night at a Holiday Inn Express in a west-side Chicago suburb, but realized that we were going to make it there way earlier than expected, so cancelled that, and decided to eat at Lou Malnati's Famous Deep Dish Pizza for dinner, which took us about half an hour out of our way. It was the BEST pizza casserole I've ever eaten, and yes... I think it's delicious, but you can't compare it to NYC's thin crust--it's just not the same.

After dinner, we got back in the car and just started driving. We didn't know how far we were going to get, and just said we'd drive until we got tired. Now, I'm not going to say I have a good tolerance for caffeine, but we stopped for an energy drink anyway. I was awake and driving until about 4:00 AM, and we were so close to JJ's parent's by the time I was tired, that JJ(who somehow slept through me being a Rockstar--it was all the drink--to Sheryl Crow-esque music the whole time) thought we could make it the rest of the way.

We got to Ephrata at 9:30 AM (Can you billeee 'dat?!), and slept until about 3:00 PM. Then we woke up to have dinner with JJ's parents, Aunt Debbie, and Grandma. The next morning (This is Tuesday) we got up and drove to Arlington to get settled.

Our apartment is potentially cute, we just need to finish unpacking/organizing. I'll get it done someday, and that day will be the day I take pics for y'all.

OH! The drama that the weather caused is the following: We went through the hardest rain storm ever, and a leak caused our mattress to get wet. Wet mattress=mildew=something nasty I've never dealt with. We put in a claim with Penske, and we'll see how that goes.

On Friday, JJ had planned a "I hope you like that we moved to DC even though you don't know anything about it" date. We went to eat Dim Sum at a place in China Town called Tony Cheng's, and found out that they don't serve Dim Sum at dinner, but ate some good Chinese food anyway. Then we went to the National Symphony Orchestra (at the Kennedy Center). They performed Haydn's The Creation, which would have been cooler if it was in English, and wasn't an Opera, and had more Orchestra solos, but it was still a good introduction to the arts of the area. Here's a pic:

On Saturday, our friends Joe & Brit, who we have missed so much since they moved here... a year? ago, met us at the Embassies to look around. I saw my first real DC-style demonstration:

It's about not killing North Koreans. I probably should care more, but I didn't really get it. They shouted some hilarious things, and then you could hear other people saying "I don't think anyone's listening" in the background. LOVED IT.

We were supposed to be flying to Cabo for a week in the sun/relaxing/getting tan, but I guess that the pigs of the area really didn't want me to crispify myself, and infected everyone with the flu. We got a refund on our tickets, but are still sad. Even though we bought a 40" LCD HDTV with 1080p and all the things JJ was looking for for just more than the plane tickets cost (which makes it free, if you think about it.... almost).

So now we're getting settled. I really like having a metro station right across the street, living on the 6th floor, and having time and space with JJ, but I really miss my family. Especially today (Sunday Dinner), even though they're not having it. I know I'll be home soon enough to finish school and everything, but it's my first time away! Gimme a break. I'm a wuss.

This Week

This week is ridiculous.

Monday: Class, work, pack.

Tuesday: Classes (1 of which there is a big presentation in), work, class, pack.

Wednesday: Class, work, pack.

Thursday: All homework due (notice that I have no time to do it this week, and I'm almost half a semester behind in most classes), Classes (1 of which will contains a final), work, class, pack!

Friday: Take all remaining finals (early), go back to Salt Lake, where JJ is supposed to have the moving truck loaded, relax for a couple of hours, maybe get some dinner, sleep on an aerobed.

Saturday: Get up early, get in the moving truck, and try to endure 4 days of driving to move to Washington DC.

Wish me luck.

If you know anyone...

We have to part ways with Stella. JJ's set on keeping the Jetta, which, I guess makes sense, so we're going to be selling the blue Hyundai.


We're listing at $8,999, but let's just say we're flexible. It's only got 34,450 miles on it, and has never been in a wreck! We have a CarFax thing on it... It's got cruise control, 5-speed manual, gets like 35+ miles/gallon, has a good crash test rating, electric windows and door locks, good airbags... it's been a good, reliable car--no mechanical errors thus far!

If you know anyone, PLEASE send them our way! We're trying to get this thing gone ASAP! Have them email us at marikaandjohn@gmail.com, or call us, or whatever.

Remember... we're flexible! Haha. Thanks for your help!

BIG OL' NEWS!

It may not be the news you were all hoping for.... but, we're MOVING! It's official. There's a moving truck reserved, and I'm getting ready to face my fear of driving it. Boxes will soon be stacked in our apartment and we'll be making a big donation to D.I. (we're getting rid of a lot of clothes... if you want some, come on over! WARNING: they're mostly from high school (for me) and mostly bootcut jeans (from him)).

And the date is..... APRIL 25th.
A week before real finals, so I'm taking all m'tests early.

JJ TOOK THE JOB!!

JJ TOOK THE JOB IN DC!!!!!!!!!!

He accepted this morning, and told them he can start in Mid-May. I'm very proud of him, and excited for the opportunities that this job provides (Master's Degree, higher pay, more chance of being promoted, he'll work close to where he lives, etc.)! As in the rest of life, there are always some downfalls (2 semesters living apart is really the only real one). There are so many things to do before we leave!

I also was planning to do my internship this summer, which means that I have to find a summer internship in a hotel/bed and breakfast/restaurant/institutional culinary management, so that we can be in DC for the summer, and start our sad 2 semesters apart in fall.

If anyone has a contact that could hook me up, lemme know! I'm having a hard time even getting started--I have this fear:

DC isn't just a summer tourism place. It's a year-round tourism place. So it's not like people are generally hired for 3 months of the year.

I need to get 450 hours between May 15-Aug 25... ugh. SOMEONE HAAAAAALP! I'm willing to do just about any job in a hotel, except laundry/housekeeping. I just need something!! Please just comment/email me and I'll love you forever and like you for always :-).

JJ's Sad Finger

We were having a superbowl party at my parent's house, and were innocently preparing the guacamole, when all of a sudden, THWACK!

. . . . . . . .JJ chopped off his finger. . . . nail. . . . . well. . . . part of it.

It's so sad/gross! It's literally just a chunk out of his fingernail. EEEEEEEW.

It looks even gross-er close-up. I feel so bad for him! I'm sure it's painful, but he's got a problem with his machismo, where he can't admit that it hurts. Whatever.

I'll let you know if it turns green and falls off.

EW, it's so gross.