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For some reason we are having a very hard time getting excited about today's Tribune food section. It's no one's fault but our own, we think, since our entertainment threshhold has been totally shot by yesterday's marathon session of catching up with Mad Men (OH MY GOD, EVERYTHING IS SO INTENSE). So we will attempt to make the Trib's food section exciting the only way we know how: copious use of exclamation points!

• Croatia was ravaged by war! But now they make wine! The story is both heartwarming and unbearably wine-snobby! [Trib]

• White bread, potatoes, red meat, and cheese are all not nearly as bad for us as we'd thought! They actually have nutritional value! Turns out (omg!) the key is moderation! Also wtf is up with the alliterative headline?! [Trib]

• A revamp of a classic Nicoise salad recipe illustrates the paradox of the heap! If you replace every single freaking ingredient in a Nicoise salad with things that are not in fact found in Nice, is it still a Nicoise salad?! (Hint: Hells no!) [Trib]

• The StoryBus at the Kohl Children's Museum is actually really awesome! So is this idea for a benefit to support it: Highbrow takes on kids' food! Also the event has a neat name: Night of 1000 Clean Plates! We are having a hard time snarking on this one! [Trib]

[Photo: A Nicoise salad (we've swapped the green beans out for shredded wheat, and replaced the tuna and potatoes with some milk), via buriednextoyou's Flickr]