Congratulations, Linda!

That's right, Linda! You are the winner of my Oprah giveaway! Yay, Linda!

Thanks for playing, everyone!

Something New: Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (and a giveaway!)

Ever since experiencing my first real Chicago deep-dish pizza last week, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it...oh goodness, was it ever delicious. So I decided I'd better try making one myself. I paid a visit to my trusty friend, Google (who answers all of my burning questions), and I decided to try this recipe. I threw all of the ingredients into my bread machine and set it on the "dough" cycle.

The verdict: This recipe produced a lovely dough that was smooth, soft, and so very easy to work with. I used coarse-ground cornmeal, which gave it a very distinctive crunch. The next time I make this, however, I will make some minor adjustments. First, I will add some crushed garlic, and possible some basil and oregano to the dough. While the dough was good, it seemed to be missing something in the flavor department. Second, I think I will try using a couple of 9" or 10" spring form pans to bake it in. This time, I used 8" cake pans, and as you can see, the dough kind of took on a mind of its own when baked. Please also note, I halved the recipe, and I still got two pizzas out of it. I didn't have much on hand by way of toppings, so I'm looking forward to trying fresh mozzarella, pesto, and a bunch of fresh veggies. The boys really enjoyed this pizza, and I am looking forward to making some for Steve, to get his opinion.

Speaking of Chicago, I nearly forgot that I promised a little giveaway last week! I picked up a couple of goodies at The Oprah Store, so if you'd like a little package to arrive on your doorstep, then please leave a comment on this post by Wednesday, September 17th at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. A winner will be drawn at random using Random.org. Up for grabs? I super-duper soft pair of mint green "O" footies, an Oprah note card, and a great little key chain (which can easily be made into an ornament, if you so desire) that was made in South Africa. That Oprah puts her money where her mouth is! Good luck!

Chicago Re-Cap

I'm back in Idaho and had a fabulous time in Chicago. It's hard to sum it all up, but I'll give you a quick run-down of the highlights. We certainly managed to pack quite a bit into less than two days. My flight out to Chicago went smoothly. When I landed at Midway Airport, I found the train station and hopped on the Orange Line to make my way to the Washington/Wells station. Once there, I emerged from the station, right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the busy city. It has been a long time since I have been in a big city. There is just something about all that activity that is so exciting to me. I also love being somewhere unfamiliar, and having to find my way to a destination. I walked a little over seven blocks in what turned out to be some very impractical sandals (a mistake I am still paying for...ouch!). When I arrived at our hotel, my mom and aunt were standing at the front desk checking in. We headed out for dinner at a wonderful Greek restaurant called Athena, where we enjoyed tzatziki, spanakopita, chicken Diana, and a round of gin and tonics. Jen arrived at the hotel a little after 11:00 p.m. and we proceeded to chat until after 1:00 a.m.

The next morning it was time to start seeing the sights. We began with a trip to Oprah's new store, which sits across the street from Harpo Studios. The store was full of great clothing, books, gifts, baby clothes, journals, etc., as well as many beautiful things from South Africa. There was a line of clothing from Oprah's Leadership Academy for Girls, and all of the clothing was manufactured in South Africa, which was nice to see! In one of the corners of the store was "Oprah's Closet", full of clothes and shoes from Oprah's actual closet, which were for sale. All of the proceeds from this go to the Angel Network. Anyway, after we were all shopped out, we grabbed a cab and headed to Gino's East for some Chicago deep dish pizza. Sooooo good. In case you aren't familiar with Chicago deep dish, the crust has quite a bit of cornmeal in it, as well as more oil than a typical crust, resulting in a wonderfully textured, crunchy pie (I've been scouring the Internet for the perfect recipe, and plan to make one this weekend). Next, it was off to the Magnificent Mile for some shopping. Oh, the stores. We managed to mostly look, and only really splurged on some Kiehl's lip gloss. Next, we hit the beach to dip our feet in Lake Michigan (check out all the bandaids). If I hadn't known any better, I would have thought I was at the ocean. The sand felt so good between my toes, and the water was warm! Next, we went to the Signature Lounge on the 96th floor of the Hancock Observatory. The view was amazing, and the martinis were very good! After heading back to the hotel, we walked over to Pegasus Restaurant to share some appetizers. Then it was time for some frantic packing and ironing, in preparation for our very early departure for Oprah in the morning. We arrived at Harpo Studios at 6:00 a.m., and waited in a hallway until a little after 6:30, when we were checked through security and led upstairs, where we waited until around 8:00 a.m., when we were let into the studio. We ended up getting really great seats in the center. It was fun to see the crew scurrying around, preparing the studio for filming. A woman from the audience team came out and told us that we would actually be seeing two show tapings, instead of one, so that was a great surprise. The first show was about the power of forgiveness, and was centered around this story. Lisa Ling was also there, as she did the reporting for this particular story. If you happen to see this show when it airs, it will really cause you to stop and think about any petty grudges you may be holding, and how much energy it takes to be angry and bitter. When the taping was over, Oprah ran and changed her clothes, the set got changed around a bit, and we started all over again. This time (be still my beating heart) was Dr. Oz! I was so excited because I really love when he is a guest. The show was about medical stories that made news over the summer, as well as viewer questions for Dr. Oz. Really neat to watch. Once the taping was over, I had to quickly grab a cab so that I could rush to the hotel to get my luggage, and then grab another cab to the airport. My mom and aunt were getting items from coat check, so I didn't get to say goodbye to them, unfortunately. Jen came with me back to the hotel, so we squeezed in a quick goodbye, and I was on my way! I arrived back in Idaho in time for dinner last night. It was so good to see all three of my boys, and they all did very well while I was gone. Steve, as always, did a fine job of caring for everyone. Thanks, honey!

With Jenny, at Harpo Studios!

After some massive Oprah shopping

With our old friend, The Soup Nazi, at Gino's East

My sweet Mummy, on the beach

Dipping our feet in Lake Michigan

View from the beach

Cocktails at the Signature Lounge

All gone!

***Stay tuned...I'll be having a giveway in the next few days with some treats from The Oprah Store!***

I Love Chicago!

We are all here, enjoying beautiful Chicago! We've just returned to our hotel after a full day of shopping, sight-seeing, and people-watching. We are so excited to go to Harpo Studios tomorrow morning! Chicago is a truly amazing city - - I had forgotten how wonderful it felt to be shadowed by sky-scrapers, surrounded by traffic, people, fabulous food, wonderful stores, etc.. Although I love where I live, there is something about city life that is just so exciting. I feel very blessed to have had this opportunity to take this little get-away.

We visited the Oprah Store this morning and shopped our brains out. Then, we had some Chicago deep-dish pizza, did lots of walking (eventually ending up at a beach), and then headed to the Signature Lounge at Hancock Tower for a martini. At one point while wandering the city, we ran into Maksim Chmerkovskiy from "Dancing With The Stars". Let me tell you, he is even more beautiful in person, if that is even possible. We are guessing he is in town because his new dance partner, Misty May-Treanor, is in Chicago today, filming the season premier of Oprah. Now we'll be getting ready for a very early departure for Harpo Studios in the morning. I have lots of pictures to share, so stay tuned for that, as well as a give-away!

***Edited to add photo of Maks, photo courtesy of my mom...he was walking pretty fast, people, so all you get is a photo of his bum...which isn't really a bad thing.***

The Great Oprah Adventure: Part 3

Oprah, could you please give us a break? I mean, seriously. Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from Mark, from the Oprah Winfrey Show. He very cautiously asked me, "Can I ask you about your travel arrangements to Chicago?" I pretty much knew what he was going to say next - - the show we had been rebooked for was now cancelled. So, we've now been re-rebooked for the Thursday morning show. Please Oprah, don't cancel this one, too! This is really our last chance! We had to rearrange some of our travel plans, but now we'll have all day Wednesday to enjoy Chicago and see the sights. I'm going to keep thinking happy, positive thoughts. I may just refuse to answer my phone between now and next Tuesday morning.

***Update: I'm feeling slightly better, knowing that we were bumped by Michael Phelps (Oprah is taping her season premier next Wednesday, with all of the Olympians).

The Great Oprah Adventure: Part 2

Oh mercy. I just received the dreaded call from Harpo Studios, letting me know that "due to production changes", they would need to switch us to a different taping (we were scheduled for the 11:00 taping on September 3rd). The audience coordinator suggested we move to the 7:00 a.m. show the next morning, and I agreed, although I knew we would probably need to make some flight changes since we are all flying back home that day. For some reason I thought we were all flying out around lunch time, but unfortunately Jen was scheduled to fly out at 7:00 a.m. So, I called Harpo back, but only had the option to leave a message, in which I begged, BEGGED for them to let us attend the a.m. taping on the 3rd, although I don't even know if that is an option. Yes, I am well aware that there are far greater troubles in the world, but please send some calm and positive thoughts to Shonda, the lovely audience coordinator who called me, so that she can put us in the September 3rd a.m. taping! I should have told her we'd sit on the floor if we had to!

***Update*** Crisis averted! Shonda just called back and we can, in fact, attend the 7:00 a.m. taping on the 3rd. Phew! As it turns out, this is even better, because then we literally have the entire day to enjoy Chicago.

The Great Oprah Adventure: Part One

So yesterday I got tickets to The Oprah Winfrey Show. I'm totally not kidding! I mean, it is so crazy! I bought my plane tickets last night, and will meet up with my dear friend Jennifer, my mom, and my Aunt Jean in the windy city for 48 hours of pure crazy girl time. It is only fitting that I am doing this with Jen - - we have experienced some great adventures together over the years, haven't we, Jen? We'll attend the afternoon taping on Wednesday, September 3rd, so that gives me exactly 15 days and some change to figure out what the heck I am going to wear. Good Lord. For some reason I thought September 3rd was THREE WEEKS from now, but after having just counted this out on my calendar, I see that is TWO. Ack! So please come along on our crazy little adventure to Harpo Studios!