I miss Top Chef (I think we all do), but in the meantime I have to confess that I got sucked into the last three episodes of The Next Food Network Star last Sunday night. After the season’s premiere, I thought I’d never sit through another episode of that show. I thought I wouldn’t be able to bear its Top Chef wannabe repertoire but somehow my TV tuned in to the Food Network for three…straight…hours. It’s too bad my reality food show fix came at the end of the season but I have to say, it was nice to see the outcome as soon as I got sucked in.

And maybe it’s just me (or the fact that I only watched four episodes total) but I was SHOCKED when they announced the winner.

Spoilers after the jump!

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Popularity: 48% [?]

As I mentioned yesterday, R and I had a large number of people over last weekend. And although I was by no means calm and composed, I think I handled feeding and entertaining 50 people quite well, if I do say so myself. I love entertaining friends and family, and really don’t mind putting the work into making a beautiful spread. If it wasn’t so darn expensive, I’d do it a whole lot more often!

Read after the jump for my 7 tips to make a kick ass fruit platter!

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Today I’m going to review a little restaurant called Francesca’s Intimo that I’ve come to adore in the last few months. I’ve actually only been there twice but it’s become a fast favorite and the easy choice for a nice dinner, or say, a date. It’s actually part of a long line of Francesca Restaurants all located in Chicago but so far, Intimo (located in Lake Forest) is the only one in my repertoire (it’s hard to believe I haven’t yet been to the one in Northbrook).

I think you probably figured out by now that I think the food is outstanding, or else I wouldn’t be writing about it. It’s authentic, really fresh, and overall delicious. They change their menu every week, incorporating homemade pasta, fresh Italian cheese, and sauces that are to die for. I never realized how much I liked real Italian food until I came here. I think that says a lot.

See a rundown of my most recent meal and all the delicious food photos after the jump!

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I have a really great recipe for you, but I don’t have a picture of it. DON’T STOP READING! I know, it’s sinful, almost blasphemous to post a recipe without a photo of the final product, but I have a really, really good reason. I promise.

Last weekend, R and I had an open house at our apartment so that our families could see the place and the neighborhood, and we could show off our mad cooking skills. We kept the menu fairly simple: cold cuts, orzo salad, potato salad and Israeli salad. I would have loved to make some more elaborate dishes, but we both have wonderfully large families and we were expecting between 40 and 50 people. And since this was our first real entertaining experience, I wanted to make it as easy as possible.

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First we had healthy food products, now we have healthy ingredients! Serious Eats posted this list of 11 Healthy Foods a few weeks ago and for the sake of eating healthy, we thought we’d pass it along.

Sadly, I only consume 5/11 of these foods…and not on that regular of a basis. I’m all for the pomegranate juice (you might remember I have an obsession with POM tea). I adore blueberries and cinnamon and pumpkin (I wasn’t steering you wrong when I challenged you all to eat a pumpkin a day!), along with pumpkin seeds!

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New in meat: Rabbit? - A man’s gotta eat what a man’s gotta eat…but rabbit? (Washington Post)

Veganism goes mainstream - Philadelphia chef prepares grown up delicious vegan food in his restaurant. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Curiosity killed the…chemicals? - See real time results of chefs voting on whether they plan on experimenting with molecular gastronomy.

Food blogger recipe adaptation - Illegal or not? We all love to share recipes, so why is this Cooks Illustrated PR woman pissed? Poor Melissa from Alosha’s Kitchen.

Fatty fructose - Processed foods made with fructose syrup instead of sugar can actually make you fatter than regular sugar. Is this really new information?

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