There is one area in the restaurant industry that isn’t the greatest for start up restaurants. The health insurance packages offered to start up companies leaves much to be desired! So much in fact, that the kids and I don’t even have health care coverage. I will be spending the day tomorrow looking into Illinois healthcare plans to find an affordable one for our family.

People’s Health Insurance is a fully licensed insurance agency with agents that have been fully trained in order to help me find the very best coverage and rates. Since we are finished having kids, that should be one area we can save on when it comes to coverage. I will have to check out their rate quote section to see if they really can help. It’s supposed to be quick, painless and easy to understand. I will have to let you know what I find!

When you are married to a Chef there is no holiday that you observe on the actual “holiday”!! It’s been over a decade, so I do have to say I’m pretty used to it. But what is nice is that even when we don’t get to celebrate Valentine’s on the exact day, the Chef really goes out of his way to make the night special.

I’ve never been much of a fresh flower girl. In fact, when we were engaged I let him know in no uncertain terms that I didn’t want him to send me flowers. Mainly because you get a little bouquet for $100. He has only sent me flowers once, but he’s brought them home quite a few times. What I do enjoy is just a nice date night out without the kids. I don’t require much, but he does try to make it a little more special by making reservations at a restaurant we normally wouldn’t be able to splurge on and maybe a little limo ride to and from.

Gentlemen…if you have never surprised your gal with a limo let me tell you, you don’t know what you are missing. There is just an atmosphere about a limo that brings the night to an all time high. Plus without one of you having to keep your eyes on the road, there’s a little time for other Valentine activities like snuggling!!

Even if you aren’t here in the Chicago area, you can find a limo service near you. There’s a limousine service New Jersey, New York any major city will have them. There are multiple styles available, my boys especially love the black ones.

Trust me–this is a surprise that she will never forget, especially if you are stuck at the office on Valentine’s Day!!

Because this site deals with dining out in Chicago, there is an entertainment book that can get you discounts and two for one coupons. I have been looking into the possibility of selling these on this site to people traveling to Chicago, and those who live here. Most often these books are sold as part of school fund raising campaigns, but if there is interest I would be happy to get some and sell them here. I would have to purchase an ecommerce software to help run the shopping cart aspect of it. I’ve never looked into this kind of a thing before, but with the help of Americaommerce I may just be able to swing it!

I think it would be a great idea, and honestly if you buy one book and use it for the year or even just your trip you can save more than it’s cost in dining and attractions! Chicago isn’t a cheap place to visit, but with a little help–we just might make it affordable! Let me know what you think!!

I had a whole bunch of fun things to post today, but for some reason my computer was just hideously slow! I finally had to call the big guys in for some help. Normally I don’t like to do that because I kind of like to take care of it myself. It makes me feel all ‘techie’! But after I’d exhausted everything I could do and it was still bad, there was no other choice. My husband purchased a really inexpensive yet fabulous technical support package for his networks at works and signed our home computer up as well. It’s been really handy for spyware removal and anti-virus help–I just really need to remember it’s there, because I lost a number of hours this afternoon when I had plans to add a few more recipes, big events coming up this weekend in regards to Mardi Gras and just basically have some fun! So all of that will come tomorrow (thanks to Fast-teks), and we will get everything underway for the big game!

So…back to your regularly scheduled blog!!!

	With a Chef on board we can make anything! What types of recipes would you like to see more of?
	Desserts
	Appetizers
	Main Dish
	Casserole
	Salads
	Seafood
surveys

Do you see that handy-dandy little poll above (and in the side bar)?? I just made it! I found this really cool site that gives you the coding for free polls, and I thought this was the perfect spot for one! They also offer free myspace surveys, but since you are here–I chose this one! Please take a moment and let us know what you think! It really does help keep the blog rolling along, when we know what people are more interested in reading.

Also–if you have a special dish you would like figured out–let us know where to find it, what’s it’s called–and we’ll head on over and ‘break it down’ for you!

Last night we planned to meet up with some friends at a local restaurant, and our guest of honor had the unfortunate experience of being stuck in Philadelphia because his flights into Chicago kept getting canceled. He finally made it in just in time for dinner and it was great to catch up with him.

I remember we had about the same experience on a flight to Vancouver. Weather stateside was perfect. Clear skies, no rain…but apparently it was really windy in Canada. We had booked our flights online and were extremely lucky because we just kept logging back in and changing our flights until we finally got into Canada much earlier than the folks on our original flight. It’s moments like this when sites like DialaFlight come in handy. You literally can have your finger on the pulse of air travel-and that can save valuable time when trying to get out of the airport!

The nice thing…we were stuck in San Francisco and there is no better place for seafood than that! We had a wonderful dinner, and happened to catch the first available flight out. Times like these make the Chef and I very happy!

Have you ever heard of Billy Wall? How about Jess Davis? I see a nod or two, but for the rest of you these are two are in the top 10 earners in the Bareback Riding division of the ProRodeo! But to me, these two have my vote simply because they are hometown boys from the state of Utah. If you like all things ‘Rodeo’, Roping, Riding and Racing–then you are going to want to find yourself some National Final Rodeo tickets. It’s the “Super Bowl” of rodeo. It’s a yearly event held in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV–this also happens to be located just off the strip and next to the airport–making it very convenient for everyone.

Being from the West, I’ve had many opportunities to attend the Rodeo and honestly I love to watch the Bull Riders. This is the one time a bull is involved that I’m actually not voting for the bull. The Chef however, is from the Mid-west, and I’m not sure he’s ever been to the Rodeo.

I’m thinking I can bring him over to the “dark” side by reminding him that the very best thing that goes along with the Rodeo…BEEF! The upcoming National Finals in Vegas offer so much more than just amazing rodeo. You get the sights, sounds, winnings and tastes of Las Vegas–and that is the best part. My thought is this–we will let the Chef gamble during the day, hit the rodeo, stop in for some fabulous Vegas cuisine and then hit the nightlife!

Does that not sound like the perfect getaway? Plus, December in Las Vegas is a heck of a lot warmer than December in Chicago! If we are lucky enough to get tickets to the event–I will have to let you know just what we find in the rodeo and “Beef” departments!!

I’ve been tweaking this blog a bit lately–and I have been looking for a cute little counter for my sidebar. I would like something restaurant or cooking related–but until I find it, look over there and see that cute little white counter. I found this free counter over at easy-poll.com. They had a whole bunch to choose from-but I really liked how these numbers looked! It only took about 2 minutes from start to finish, and they keep track of all of my website stats as well! Mind you–it doesn’t have chili peppers on it or anything–but for now, I think it’s really cute!