Butter and Sage Gnocchi

Gnocchi Burro e Salvia

Normally I really wouldn't, but several people would have strangled me if I didn't announce over both Twitter and Facebook that I had finally succeeded in getting an Internal Medicine residency position in the United States. Thanks to all those who expressed their congratulations. My ecstasy is tempered by the sense of responsibility and the determination to be the best physician that I can be. Part of this is determining what's going to happen to No Special Effects for at least the first year of my residency. But first, let me establish a few things:

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Perfect Strangers (Chicago Part 2)

As usual, if you want to look at the pictures and menus in finer detail, click on them to take you to the Flickr page, where the "All Sizes" button will show you larger versions.
Annoyingly, when I tried to book a hotel in Chicago for this year's interviews, this time in late November instead of late January, hotel rates were evened out at about $350 a night - about a 200% increase over last year's rates. Thank goodness for Kayak which suggested an extended-stay apartment for much less. However, I still only stayed for 3 nights, and because of wild goose chases (I'm looking at you, Red Hen Bakery, now an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere) and some repetition of visited spots, it still felt like I saw much less. Oh well.

But, I still felt like I hit a jackpot here. I've been at a toss-up of best cheapest lunch between San Francisco's Shalimar and...

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River Cafe's Chocolate Almond Cake

Torta Caprese

When I was in first-year high school, we had an English assignment that had us writing an essay about who we consider our hero and why. I wrote a fairly insipid essay (I don't know if you've heard, but I am a crap writer) about a noble, intelligent guy (identity doesn't matter). I received a dismal score for it, and it was so predictable and forgettable I don't even remember any of the details. Our English teacher was a real motivator, so he had the writers of the highest-scoring essays read them aloud in front of class. My Math seatmate and Science lab partner was one of them, so he was called in front.

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Proper Blokes' Sausage Fusilli

The deadline for the H2Ope for Haiti Raffle has been extended to March 7! Visit the link above to enter!!
Last Friday found me eating lunch with old college friends of mine: Allyson, Lorie, and Belle. Allyson was one of my team-mates in Microbiology class and we had a laugh about how much time I (as self-appointed leader) would sulk as he and my friend Bulit would squirt bottles of alcohol at each other and poor Vice. My excessive sense of responsibility could have easily irked Allyson (not that he had a right!!) but we always got along fine regardless. Watching The Hangover a few days later got me thinking about the friendships I form with other guys.

It seems like a bit of an eyeroll-inducer. Men by nature do not analyze friendships with other men. Unfortunately I'm wired a little differently and I do think about things other people won't, and having recently read that "men are idiots" (although not phrased so politely ;) made me think about how we're so underrated. Right Caitlin, Y, Pea? (Feel free to chime in if you, either by choice or coercion, hang around a bunch of other guys.)

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