You don’t see it advertised, you don’t hear about it on the TV or the radio, they don’t have a website. Only word of mouth: Blackthorn. It’s the best kept secret in St. Louis for outstanding pizza. If you talk to anyone about where to get some great pizza, they will highly recommend this place.

After hearing about it for years from friends, we finally took the plunge and headed down to South City to see what all the hooplah was about. When you first walk in, you’re definitely thinking: “What a dive. Seriously, this is the place?” It’s small and dark, with a long wooden bar, scarred from years of patrons. It is definitely not a place where people wait on you, you have to go to them for the drinks and food. Once we ordered, we waited. And waited. And waited. It has been said that it takes a while for the pizzas and they sure weren’t kidding. I think we waited close to 45 minutes for our order and we were beginning to wonder if it was worth it.

Hell yeah, it was. We had ordered a Chicago-style and a pan-style pizza and both were delicious. They were hot, cheesy, flavorful and so filling. The pizza sauce had a fiery kick to it, I liked it. My personal favorite was the Chicago-style, I think it had to do with the crust.

An absolute recommendation. You must try it at least once, even if it is a jaunt for you. And maybe call ahead to put your order in.

Why throw a surprise 30th birthday when you know the birthday boy will expect it when you can just go ahead and throw him a surprise one for his 31st? He will never know what hit him and that was what happened.

After an elaborate ruse where the guys were going to play poker, Yao’s wife lured him back to the house because she couldn’t figure out how to use the DVD player. And as a good husband, he actually came home to help her! (I know for a fact that Bob would not have done that, he would have just walked me through the process.) He actually was surprised (yay) but at the same time, he was slightly disappointed that he wasn’t playing poker. He quickly got over that once he saw that huge gathering of friends.

What does one do at at surprise 31st party? You eat, you drink and you play beer pong! Ah, brings me back to my good ole college days!

Happy birthday, Yao!

What is it with the first gorgeous weekend in St. Louis and chaos ensues? Bob and I had an exciting weekend and surprisingly, I did not lose my shit and go on a rampage.

Who doesn’t love waking up on a Saturday morning to a mini Old Faithful up the street?

At least three hours of rushing water. Three hours minimum before Missouri American Water decided to come out and rectify the situation. It wasn’t the fact that we would be inconvenienced by the lack of water that ticked me off, it was that they didn’t come out fast enough to turn off the rushing water. It just pained me knowing all that water was just going down the drain, literally. Thank goodness they were able to fix the drain pipe that afternoon or else us and the dog would be moving in with my mother.

After enjoying a Sunday afternoon at the Tivoli watching the Oscar Shorts, we walked back to the car and was welcomed by this sight:

Hey, at least they put the driver’s side mirror on the hood for me, how considerate. Thanks, guys. Fortunately, a U City police officer left a card with a number to call and apparently, the Squeaks decided to step to a Metro bus and lost, badly. So, now we get to deal with that in the coming weeks.

I think this is the first time that I’m glad that my weekend is over, I don’t think I could handle anymore of this, or else I really may lose my shit.

Appetizer: Pizza Pinwheels. A tasty and simple to make appetizer that is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Who doesn’t like pizza?

Entree: Oven Baked Mixed Seafood. An excellent, guilt-free “fried” seafood feast. And this would be perfect as an appetizer dish as well. Well done.

Side Dish: Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup. Don’t be turned off by the green look of the soup, it tastes way better than it looks. If you love broccoli-cheese soup, it’s just a slight twist on it. Lovely. We also had a side of wilted spinach, you have to eat your greens!

Dessert: A trip to FroYo. We had to celebrate Kate’s new job! Congrats!

BACON!!!!

This year’s Superbowl competition had to do with bacon, as long as bacon was incorporated in it, it was eligible for voting. And boy, did people turn out some great dishes for the evening. We had:

Bacon-wrapped potatoes

Bacon-wrapped tater tots

Bacon-wrapped meatloaf balls

Two types of bacon-wrapped water chestnuts

Bacon chocolate chip cookies

Bacon and cheese rolls

Bacon fried rice

Bacon cheese dip

And there were so much more.

After consuming enough sodium for 100 people, we voted and the bacon-wrapped meatloaf balls won, and rightly so. They were fabulous. Oh yeah, and there was the Superbowl game but I feel like the bacon laden countertop was where people focused their attention, that and the Black Eyed Peas half-time show.

Another successful Superbowl party, thanks Yao and Sheena for hosting! That means we didn’t have to clean up the crack den we call home.