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We were at the Dunes on Monday and happened to see the "Stop 50" sign along M12. We stopped. Beautiful place! Our little town of Shipshewana, IN has a new pizzeria. Pizzeria Venturi just opened July 1, 2009. I've got to say I had no idea what a real good pizza was until I had a wood fired pizza! We already had dinner plans so we didn't stay, but we will definately put you on our "road trip" list for the next time we head up to the Dunes. If you ever make it to Shipshewana...please stop in and visit Justin Venturi, proprietor at Pizzeria Venturi. It's great to have a few good pizzerias in Northern Indiana!

Glad to have read your article. When we go back to L.A., we stay within walking distance of Golden State! Thanks for your research.

@bananamonkey-The Magic Kingdom is magical:-) but tiring and expensive. Hope you get to go one day. Took the grandkids 6 and 17. Plan very carefully as the food is just not what a gourmand would love. Get a condo/a kitchen if you are as fussy as we are.

Anyway, did you get Ina's recipes off the internet or her cookbooks. Would love to try some more as she seems to have a following. I do love to watch her on TV-calming. Good food/good ingredients cost money anywhere you are these days. I just want good tastes for my efforts and money. Try Mario Batali's Babbo Cookbook for interesting, complex and sometimes pricey foods. Never a disappointment. For me the more complex the better!

@bananamonkey-I arrived home at 12:30am on Easter Morning from the Magic Kingdom so dinner was steaks on a grill! Dessert was a cup of Blue Bunny ice cream. No thinking since I was pretty fried. I need to get into a better class of friends like you have. I am the only one that really embraces gourmet cooking. I am blessed to have them, but hamburgers and hotdogs and crispy burnt chicken on the grill wears.

I have tried two of Ina Garten's vegetable dishes and was not pleased. Do you like all of her recipes or just her desserts? What a great idea to make them into cupcakes. I need to pull together a guest list for a dinner party-I feel the need to spread some love around via my kitchen! This desserts thread has inspired me.

@janaatwg--well after all that careful planning and forethought, I managed to run myself out of time. I had planned to go the cheesecake route, then realized at the last minute I don't have a spring form pan (I'm young and unmarried--my kitchen supplies are sad at best). Since I got another email that made mention of the b/f's brother in law talking excitedly about my chocolate cake, I took the easy road.

So, in the end it was Ina Garten's Beatty's Chocolate cake, made into cupcakes with mocha icing-each garishly adorned with a yellow Peep; lemon loaf for anyone who wanted something a bit lighter, chocolate haters in the crowd, smoked almond and sea salt chocolate bark, dark chocolate and candied ginger bark, and for a hint of the savory--to accompany the cheese course-Thyme Parmesan shortbread crisps, finished with a little smoked paprika. So-more than the single dessert I had planned, but all easy tried and true recipes. I think I'll try some of these more adventurous suggestions at home before debuting them to a crowd, no matter how appreciative.

Easter is over. What recipe won the prize and what did the diner's think? I am looking for an easy yet fabulous chocolate dessert as well. That cheese cake may make my list.

And is making chocolate mousse easy? Have never made it.

lamb cake mold pound cake with strawberries. Also Lemon-angel cake dessert - Lemon bavarian with cubes of angel food stirred in and chilled in greased angel food pan, unmolded and cut like a cake. I frost it with whipped cream rosettes before serving.

A chocolate cream pie or tart would be nice, adorned with edible flowers.

holy crap, my friend lives right there in the dunes... he told me about this place when they opened, he's friends with them. I just found another reason to go visit! I have to say, one of the tastiest pies I ever had was delivered to us on the beach up there. They know their pizza over there on the South shore.

Wood fired pizza is a no-brainer out in the boondocks. The wood is cheap and the building codes and fire codes more relaxed. The smell of wood smoke is a free advertisement just like for BBQ joints. He could have built his own oven too and more easily than in the big city

During the summer the local tomatoes and other produce are cheap

That Burger looks awesome to say the least. It took the restaurant 3 tries last night to get my burger done properly last night. It was good but definitely not worth the extra 20 minute wait.

Love arugula but on a burger? Nah. Pass. Pass on the fancy bacon, too. I find sometimes when a burger and its fixings get fancy, their fanciness can become a distraction. Otherwise, that burger is a looker! The (fancy) bun looks great, too!