I was just reading a breaking news story in the Chicago Tribune about police using a taser on a troublesome fan at The Player’s Championship on Friday, and I wasn’t reading it for the news. I wanted to. I wanted to know what happened, but my focus was on questioning the truths of the facts. If saying that the man was “charged with disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest without violence” was the right way to word things. Was that  wording even correct? How can you “resist without violence”? What actions constitute something to be violent? Oh! Now I’m thinking like a lawyer, in a way, and I blame my Journalism 4110 Law and Communications class for the new perspective. Thanks!

I don’t know if I’m happy with thinking like an editor every single time I read a news story. I’m looking at the mistakes and asking myself “what’s wrong” with everything I read in the news. That’s not a good mentality to have whenever you read the news. In my Creative Writings 104 Intro to Narrative Writing, we workshop short stories from other students in our class. One of my professor’s rules is to not go into the story thinking “what’s wrong with this.” That’s a really important rule to have because it helps you focus and appreciate others’ creativity and works. I realized that I think my works are always better than others’. I’m so prideful. So self-centered. My ego is out of control, and I’m always competitive. If someone else’s works are better than mine, I hate it. I appreciate news editors who take note of my strengths and try to help me out in my weaknesses.

But having to think like an editor is torture. It’s hard to appreciate or even get the main ideas out of a story when you take a class or train how to edit. It’s beneficial, but captive at the same time.

As you may know, there are different species of Oreos. Cool Mint, double stuff, Halloween orange special, peppermint special, etc.

So I wanted to try the peanut butter creme Oreo. I wasn’t expecting it to be GREAT or AMAZING or anything like that. I was just expecting it to taste good, interesting, and innovative. But it fell short in my expectations.

First, peanut butter has a very oily consistency. Thus, the cookie part of the Oreo was soaked in oil/it absorbed the oil from the peanut butter. That wasn’t attractive.

Second, with Oreos, you kind of expect the filling part to be lickable. Peanut butter: not lickable. But do you know what  I mean by lickable? It’s simple. It’s that feeling when you take the Oreo apart and lick the cream side. Peanut butter is not lickable. Nabisco would have to add a lot of special chemicals that they usually use in the original filling to turn that peanut butter into a lickable feeling.

Last but not least, chocolate and peanut butter just don’t work. Just cause chocolate and peanut butter compliment each other in ice cream doesn’t mean they do in cookies, especially Oreos.

(Disclaimer: Currently distracted by the women’s moguls.)

They only air once every four years (assuming I only get to watch them twice every ten years of my life), I would only get to watch about 14 Olympics in my entire life time. That’s  one of the reasons why I put aside a lot of my work just to watch the games. Not only that, but you get to watch legends triumph, unfold, fall, and just all the emotions they have to battle through because they only get a shot at the gold at least twice.

And when you’re at your third try, your name has kind of faded by then. You battle it out to at least make that US team. (FYI I’m mostly referring to figure skating). But you’re 25 years old. Many adults wish they were still 25. But in figure skating world, that’s old. Super old. And while you’re competing for that US Olympic team spot, you watch your other competitors (who are about 10 years younger than you) move with such grace, speed, youth, and ambition that you had when you first tried for the team. Just watching all this makes you feel old. Like a grandma. But they don’t use that term in the media. The media uses ‘veteran,’ ‘familiar,’ anything else.

Finally, it’s over. And all you can do it hug your competitors and pass on that torch of hope and luck as they compete in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Thanks for everything Sasha Cohen.

-Quote taken from textbook reading in CW 104.

So here’s just a random blog.

The image I see right now is of the cherry frosted pop tart I ate this morning. Its sugary filled frosting and filling. Sugar. Processed. Sugar molecules. Accumulating inside my body. My body hates me for eating it. But my tongue loves it. Yes. The indulgence of this sin is my obsession. But the more I begin to explore the image of this tasty obsession, I being to realize how ugly it really looks. I can’t bare the site of it’s true self.

I coined that recipe! Copyright Ros Dumlao 2010.

The idea originated when I was staying with family over winter break in LA. My aunt make chocolate chip pancakes one morning, and the next morning she just made plain pancakes. I was saddened when she said she ran out of chocolate chips.

My aunt’s family is pretty big. Three growing son and one daughter. They had a Cosco-size bag of M&M’s, and I’m just not a big fan of M&M’s. They’re OK, but I wouldn’t have the urge to buy them. So I thought to myself, what else could we do with this Jumbo-sized bag of M&M’s? Then it hit me, rainbow pancakes!

It’s deliciously chocolaty because the M&M’s are a lot bigger than chocolate chips; it’s just fun to eat and look at, especially since the batter turns into a rainbow color once you stir in the M&M’s. Think of it like funfetti pancakes.

Yes, that is what gets me out of my bed and moving almost every morning. FOOD.

I get excited thinking about the options I have on what I can eat for breakfast.

As a quote from Hannster, “My mind is so obese.”

So this morning, I thought of the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that my mom brought home from her work last night. She came home around 9:30 p.m., and I remember her calling my name. As got out of my room o greet her, I look at her downstairs holding two objects in her hand. I knew at once what they were because there’d be only one reason why she would call me to only show what she had brought from work. Food. Dessert, specifically.

I knew it was some form of sweets because of the greasy-looking packaging. They were cookies from Potbelly’s. Ah, Potbelly cookies. Nice. Big. Reasonably priced for its size. Delicious.

I gasped and jumped downstairs. Not ran. Jumped.

But I had to resist. It was 9:30. I already brushed my teeth and would be violating my treaty between my body and sweets. The mouth and sweets must never come in contact.

(Brief disruption in train of thought as conversed with sister, which was probably good so that I can get straight to the point).

So anyways, as I woke up this morning, I turned on the news. There’s only one news station that is ridiculous enough to have a newscast at 9 a.m. while all the other stations take a break. Fox News in the Morning on channel 32. It was the only thing on, and I prefer them over Good Morning America.

Towards the end of their newscast, they have this special section called “Deal of the Day,” which advertises (literally it’s actually what they’re doing as much as they want to deny it) special deals that certain restaurants are having for the day. Today was some pizza place that was selling pizza slices, soups, etc for only $1! That’s a good buy! And a bowl of soup and such for only $2! To save my own precious time, here’s the link.

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/good_day/deal_of_the_day/my-pie-and-li%27l-guys—chicago-news

The place is called ‘My Pie and Lil’ Guys,’ and I remember stumbling across that name in my craving search for pizzerias around Chicago at metromix.com. So I decided to go to that website and just to verify it, and I got distracted by a picture of a couple eating a delicious looking PIZZA as the home page’s center piece!

The headline read:

Vote: Best of Chicago Awards

Make your pick for the city’s best pizza, burger, sushi and more

So as usual, I clicked on it, and basically you can vote for Chicago’s best thin crust pizza (not deep-dish… disappointing considering Chicago is known for DDP…), best sushi, best new restaurant, etc. They give you a list of options to choose from. For me, instead of voting, I’d use this link to feed my eye with pictures of food and ideas on where to eat in Chicago. You can too, or you can also vote if you have a strong opinion.

http://chicago.metromix.com/best-of-awards

Bon appetite.

Once I told one of my friend’s mom about my summer quest, she recommended this place called Pequods. I forgot what she said about it, but she e-mailed me the location and a couple of reviews. I didn’t have time to try it out over the summer because my summer was just ending. But the name did pop up again from one of my friends at U of I, and he promised we would eat there one day. And we did. TODAY.

It was a typical movie and dinner hangout, and I was stoked to try it out after months of hearing all the talk but no eating. Plus I hadn’t eaten much all day and was saving my calories for dinner.

Matt and I had just watched ‘Youth in Revolt’ with Michael Cera. Let’s leave it at that. I will let the movie critics do their job of informing you about that movie. But I’ll leave you with one comment, which was a common quote that Matt used throughout the movie: “This is an inappropriate movie.”

After the movie, we ventured on our way to Pequod’s in Morton Grove. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, and Matt had warned me before I saw the place.

“You wouldn’t know it’s a pizza place just by looking at it.”

And indeed, I wouldn’t have. Located along small residential street and hidden behind a bar, it’s not you’re typical LOU MANLATI’S or GIORDaNO’S neon-blinking restaurant. Nope.

It’s like a little pub, and could be mistaken for a sports bar. Inside, it’s a bit tacky. Locally owned, it has it’s own “Mom and Pops” atmosphere. Matt said that the restaurant was going to relocate, but instead they used the money to buy new plasma TVs and post them around the restaurant.

Nonetheless, it had the feel of a pizza place, and that was fine with me.

FOOD. Put simply:

It took less than 45 minute  wait than most restaurants that serve DDP. Maybe around 20 minutes, t my best guess.

We ordered a cheese pizza.

I think what makes Pequod’s unique is that they don’t have ‘sausage,’ ‘pepperoni,’ ‘spinach,’ etc as an option. It’s cheese only or you can add whatever topping you want for about $1.50 extra. Here’s a link to Pequod’s website so that I wouldn’t have to explain in confusing detail.

http://www.pequodspizza.com/home.html

The pizza?

The cheese to sauce ratio wasn’t even. There was a lot of cheese, but not as much as Giordano’s. There was less than a thin layer or tomato sauce, but the sauce wasn’t it’s signature. It was mostly the burned-looking crust. It looks burned, but really isn’t. Instead, once you bite into the crust, it taste like burned cheese. That that’s what it is. It’s unique, but I didn’t find the crust widely delicious. Interesting. Innovative.  That’s what I would call it. It’s crust is thin, which I like. It wasn’t thick, so it didn’t take away from the enjoying the pizza as a whole.I guess it’s an alternative to to a stuffed crust. Overall, satisfactory. Not bad.

This is a horrible review by the way, but I promise (maybe), once I’m more awake and think about the pizza in my dreams, I’ll come back with a more refined, and hopefully constructive review. As of now, I just wanted to get this blog going.

Truth be told, the reader’s interest isn’t of my concern =)

Willpower.

That’s were I left off in my previous blog, which was about five minutes ago.

Here’s a quick summary of what I accomplished last summer (as in restaurants that I ate at):

1) Lou Manlati’s

2) Giordano’s

3) Uno’s Pizzeria

4) Gino’s East

*5) Papa Dell’s (at U of I)

(*) –  Not in Chicago

Not a bad list for one summer, eh?

Well the only problem was that I didn’t actually blog about them. I did everything on my checklist (figuratively speaking) BUT blog. So here is my pathetic attempt to start.

Here’s how I rank them:

1) Lou Manlati’s

2) Gino’s East

3) Giordano’s

4) Uno’s Pizzeria

NOTE: Papa Dell’s isn’t included because I’m only rating the one’s in the Chicago-land area.

Here are places that I still plan on going to:

1) Duo’s Pizzeria

2) Leona’s

3) Stefano’s

I’m open to other suggestions, so please do suggest some great places.

FYI: This blog is an experiment, inspired by the movie ‘Julia and Julie.’

Prologue

There is no specific format for anything that I will be blogging. As noted earlier, I just wanted to get this blog started now. I lack willpower. For a moment, I will be inspired to embark on a grand quest that I would remember throughout the rest of my life and could brag about (like on my resume). Just yesterday, my very dear friend Hannster (she is a real person, not a pet) and I were driving back after visiting a friend in Naperville,  and I had this sudden urge to go a road trip  with her to NYC. It was and is a great idea, but due to my weak willpower, that plan may backfire, like all my other ideas.

So this prologue is like a warmup for my writing. Usually when I write, I prefer a quiet, isolated place with no one but myself and my tools. But now, my parents are talking in the background. And it sure is annoying, but I won’t go into much detail about that. The TV is tuned to the ABC 7 evening news, and the sound of the laundry running echoes through the vents throughout this 1970′s modeled house. I write to mask my frustration.

To the point, I started this quest in the summer of 2009. How did it all begin? Well, first it begins with a passion for food. Who doesn’t like food? But there’s a difference between liking food and having a passion for food. Now, there’s window shopping. As some females window shop at department stores, I window show at grocery stores. When I’m bored, I run to my nearby Walgreens  and look at their food. There’s this pattern that I follow: First, the candy isle, then season isle (depending on the holiday specials), cereal isle, then refrigerated isle. I also drive to the Dominick’s just one mile from my house and head straight to their bakery section and savor the sweet smell of their breads, check out what donuts they have, and drool over their ginormous muffins. I could go on.

More to the point, my favorite food: CHICAGO STYLE DEEP-DISH (PAN) PIZZA! Preferably sausage. Yum! Why? I dunno. Believe it or not, I used to HATE deep-dish pizza. I grew up only knowing of Dominos and Pizza Hut. It was always, “Dominos vs. Pizza Hut.” But Little Ceasar’s was also up there on my list. When I was in elementary school, I got these certificates for free crazy breads at Little Ceasar’s. Back then, there was a Little Ceasar’s play place (like Chucky Cheeses’). Every time I earned those certificates (for perfect attendance or something), my parents would take me and my sister there and we would have pizza and loads of crazy breads. But now, Little Ceasar’s has downscaled to a ‘hole-in-the-wall’ and so have my cravings for low-quality pizza.

OK, long-story told short (I didn’t realize how much I’ve been rambling and I too want to get to the point on how I embarked on this quest) … Since I love deep-dish pizza, and since Chicago (woot!) is the home of this great creation but not all restaurants serve the same deep-dish pizza, I wanted to try all the different types of deep-dish pizzas that are served throughout the Chicago-land area.

For my high school basketball outings, we always ate at Lou Manlati’s and ordered a deep-dish cheese and sausage pizza (I used to be all pepperoni and despised sausage, but now the tables have turned). I’ll be biased, Lou Manlati’s is the best! The crust to bread to cheese to sausage to tomato sauce ratio is perfect! (Put simply). Plus, the sauce is just quality. I do taste a hint of alcohol in their sauce, and that’s what makes it thE best deep-dish pizza (to me).

I’ve heard my other friends say that Giordano’s is their favorite. I google-imaged Giordano’s pizza’s, and the pictures just made my mouth water. The image of all the cheese oozing right out of the pan once the waiter serves it to you is just mouth-watering. I told myself, “I have to try that!”

But once I established that DD Pizza is my favorite food, I began to take note of the various pizza joints around Chicago. When I would go to downtown with my dad to pick my mom up from work, I noticed the Uno’s Pizzeria that we would always pass since I was 5 years old, and all of a sudden a spark rekindled in my heart for a desire to eat there after so many years. I also noticed Duo’s Pizzeria and Gino’s East.

I wanted to hit up all the local pizzerias, and that’s when I put aside time for my 2009 summer to go on my quest for the BEST DEEP-DISH PIZZA IN CHICAGO. Summer was the perfect time. First, I had all the time in the world, since I was only working at Corner Bakery and taking summer classes at a community college. It was my first summer after my freshman year in college, so it was perfect timing to use this quest as an excuse to catch up with old high school friends and build on the friendships that I made at U of I (I wouldn’t be able to go on this journey with my family because no one in my family loves pizza as much as I do, and I would feel like such a fatty and loner eating by myself). Speaking of being fatty, I didn’t have to worry about gaining weight or staying in shape because summer is when I’m most active and less stressed. In addition, I was working, so money wasn’t really a problem.

Here was my game plan: Order a deep-dish sausage/cheese pizza, critique, and compare it to other’s that I’ve tried. Blog.

Simple.

Willpower.