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Two can't miss spots, IMO:

The Old Fashioned in Madison is amazing. It's updated Sconnie supper club food in a nice pub atmosphere. They've got something like 150+ Wisconsin beers in house too. I recommend hitting up the brandy old fashioneds tho as you'll never have a better one than theirs. Same goes for their fried cheese curds which are some of the best I've ever eaten... and I've eaten a LOT of them.

Bavaria Sausage Kitchen in Madison a great place to pick up "meat snacks" and they also have all kinds of other great eats.

In Iowa City, I'd have to agree with most of the suggested places except Sam's. It's okay but the place is completely annoying and the service is pretty terrible. (Once had a 32 oz. glass of ice water spilled into my lap in early February. Waitress didn't even apologize. Just laughed and walked away!)

At Wig and Pen, instead of the Flying Tomato, get their thin crust Pub Special. The crust is serviceable but the real show is the amazingly delicious sausage and sweet red peppers. They marry so beautifully with the tangy sauce and abundant cheese.

One place that wasn't mentioned is the best delivery pizza in town-- Falbo Bros. For $13 you get a 16" thin crust with 2 toppings and it's great. Best crust in town outside of Pagliai's-- flavorful, charred, chewy and crispy both.

One place off the beaten path is in N. Iowa-- Pasquale's in Humboldt, 15 or 20 miles north of Fort Dodge. Grew up going there with my parents. Classic 1960s style pizza and a completely different animal than their frozen pizzas which are ubiquitous in Iowa supermarkets.

Great list! I think my dad and I are going to hit up some of the recommended spots on this list on our next pizza road trip!

It's all about Squirt and vodka. A friend of mine has our favorite watering hole stock Squirt solely for us to drink :)

I made chili out of horse recently. And I have a 4 lb. roast in the freezer. Looking forward to trying that. It's meat from a neighbor's farm and I can't imagine why we shouldn't eat it since we eat all kinds of other meats. It's nice and sweet, I've noticed.

Re: the chili... my dad said "Whooooaaa, this is good." Hehe.

@ Pointy -- I'm a huge fan of those Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein noodles too! They're super filling and really flavorful.

The best instant style ramen has to be the Duck flavored Mama noodles from Thailand. Beware of the whole chili packet tho unless you want to get your lid blown off! I usually go about half to 2/3. They also make a Pad Thai noodle that's ok in a pinch and wicked cheap.

Take it from an Iowa farm girl, keep it simple. Freshly picked-- no more than two days out of the field. Boiled for 5 minutes, buttered, salted. No bogus seasonings or lime juice or cheese or whatever. If the corn is good, it speaks for itself.

Bacon, sausage, ham. The pig is, indeed, a magical animal. And I live in Iowa. It's just too easy :)

I am a big fan of lefse for Easter. We're good old Norwegian Lutherans so it's a must :) Ham is a close second. Always the Easter Ham!

I've noticed that where you put the mayo-- top or bottom bread-- has an effect on how moist the sandwich seems. When it's on the top, I get more of a sense of moisture; conversely, when on the bottom slice the mayo seems to get lost in the shuffle of other ingredients. Curious.

wow, that's sweet. what a lucky guy and lucky for us that he'll be able to keep on at his chosen career. Now I'll actually get to go to Alinea :)

Goods things can happen!

Get a second crockpot and you're in business. There are loads and loads of great crockpot recipe books.

One recipe I'd recommend if you like beans is called Calico Beans. You can make this in a double or triple batch quickly and freeze portions that you can then microwave. It's saved me many times throughout grad school:

Cook 1/2 lb. bacon until crisp; remove bacon to paper toweling and pour off grease. In same pan, brown 1 lb. ground beef. Then add:

1 can kidney beans
1 can lima beans
1 can pork and beans
--all with liquids

1/2 c. ketchup
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. yellow mustard
3 T. instant onion
2-3 tsp. white vinegar
salt, pepper to taste.

Mix together and cook on stovetop (or in your crockpot) until the beans are cooked through. It can then be packaged up and you're in business.

You can adjust all of the flavorings in the sauce to your likening... making it less sweet, more tart, etc. Enjoy :)

I'm pulling for Dale, though I like all of the remaining contestants on one level or another. Hung is definitely the most arrogant of the bunch, but Casey and Dale aren't perfect.

Overall, Dale has been the little ray of sunshine of the lot. And his comment about not having cooked for lots of cowboys, but instead he had "slept with a few" really cracked me up last week.

Go Dale! :) We're rooting for our fellow Hawkeye!

Here's an article that ran in the U of Iowa's paper today.