The economic outlook may be as gloomy as the ever-earlier dusk and chilling weather forecast, but that's no excuse not to do a little autumn entertaining. Tailgates and sports-TV parties, pre-election coffee klatches, neighborhood leaf-raking events, PTA meetings and other such gatherings fill the fall calendar.
• Short-rib 'mini burgers'
• Kentucky punch
• Roasted vegetables
The greatest thing about autumn is the harvest of winter squash -- and we're in high season.
Dave Hoekstra: Chicago's Downtown Farmstand carries a joyful air. The sun dances through large windows along 66 E. Randolph, illuminating bushels of fruits, vegetables and herbs, all produced within 250 miles of the city. There's organic baby food as well as honey from the roof of nearby City Hall.
Cooler weather often is incentive enough to get people baking. But for those who need an extra push, the latest batch of baking cookbooks offers plenty of inspiration to get you in the mood. Here are the highlights:
For Swap Shop readers looking for an interesting chili or chowder for at-home tailgating parties, McCormick & Schmick's has come to the rescue.
Starbucks' practice of keeping a tap running at each of its 10,000 stores worldwide has environmentalists steamed.
NEW YORK--Burger King Corp. said Thursday it is now cooking with trans fat free cooking oils at all of its restaurants nationwide.
NEW YORK--Burger King Corp. said Thursday it is now cooking with trans fat free cooking oils at all of its restaurants nationwide.
Dave Hoekstra: When culinary luminaries Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page are in town to promote their new book The Flavor Bible, it seems appropriate to have lunch at an old testament to Chicago dining. "I can smell it steaming," Dornenburg says after a cook arm twists him into a double cheeseburger at Billy Goat.
The corner of Montrose and Lincoln Avenue has a new landmark of sorts and its history, or shall I say "his" history, dates back hundreds of years.
Arnisha Keyes admits she's no Rachael Ray. Until recently, she spent $30 a day to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at restaurants.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Want to know how many calories are packed into that burrito or fried chicken you're ordering? Fast-food company Yum Brands Inc. says it's taking the guesswork out of counting calories.
Lansing-based National Pasteurized Eggs is cracking the subject of contaminated eggs wide open.
Kids may be more apt to try something healthful if they have a hand in making it, but to keep them coming back it has to be tasty as well.
Q. I took a cooking class. The chef had this incredible cinnamon that didn't smell like any cinnamon I had ever smelled before. It was deeply fragrant, peppery, rich beyond belief. Do you know what kind that could have been?
After a night of VIP treatment at an Eagles concert in Chicago, what's for breakfast? A cheese omelet? Eggs over easy? Not for Danville friends Jackie Black and Sandy Golseth, who chose crab cake benedict, pinto beans, chips and salsa at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago.
Three thousand people brought appetites to Millennium Park on Saturday for the inaugural Chicago Gourmet, a $150-a-head food and wine expo, featuring star chef demonstrations and tastings. "These are kind of the glory days of Chicago restaurants," said Chicago chef and expo supporter Rick Bayless.
Sandra Guy: The first "green" Jewel-Osco, complete with a green roof, an indoor air quality system and energy-conserving light bulbs highlighting food displays, opens at 6 a.m. today at Kinzie and Desplaines in the ever-more-tony River West neighborhood. The store boasts Jewel-Osco's first in-store dietician to help shoppers pick healthy foods, a wine steward to help choose wines and a full line of Wild Harvest organic foods.
• Photos: Jewel's new store
• More on Chicagoland Jewel-Osco
SAN LEON, Texas---- On the eve of October's peak seafood harvesting season, migrant fishermen are sweeping debris from gutted bay side homes instead of scooping shrimp and oysters from the lucrative Gulf floor. The $100 million fishing industry in Galveston Bay is virtually paralyzed.
The excited chatter of Dorothy Nowicki and Debbie Ramdhannie suggested that their visit to Bistro 110 was much more than a casual dinner shared between sisters; it was clear that the evening was something special.
• Video: Ina makes gluten-free fried chicken
• A gluten sufferer rises to occasion with education
• Gluten-free green tea muffins
A spoonful of Laloo's (pronounced lay-lose) vanilla ice cream, made with goat's milk, will yield that tangy, almost gamey finish that you either love or hate when you eat goat cheese.
Sandra Guy: Mayor Daley on Tuesday said the city must remove any barriers to grocers opening supermarkets in underserved communities. "A grocery store is important to the health of the people in these communities," Daley said. "Is there something that we are putting in as a barrier? We have to figure that out."
This recipe goes back to my youth growing up in Lockport and working in my parents' garden.
Breakfast is going over big at Starbucks, and it's getting bigger, the Seattle company said.
When L.M.J. of Tinley Park requested ideas for a luau, Chicago readers Mary Shen Barnidge, Marit Vamarasi, Joe Dunigan and Rachel Cohen all offered suggestions.
Sunshine Best is an enthusiastic young woman on a mission: to provide access to the simple pleasure of food to all and educate the masses about healthy, flavorful, gluten-free cooking.
Charging an extra $3 to pour cheese topping into a bag of Fritos recently led to a scuffle at a Tinley Park gas station.
BEIJING--— The note posted in July on the Web site of China’s food safety inspection agency came from a doctor: There had been a sudden rise in infants turning up at his hospital with kidney stones after drinking the same brand of formula.
How does a grocer keep up with a fast-paced customer base? Apparently, in small steps.
Some of the employees who staffed the old Dominick's grocery in Lake View will be on hand today for an 8 a.m. ground-breaking ceremony at the site, the first tangible evidence a food store will rise again there.
Though they have never met, Karen Hand, Alpana Singh and Charla Sweeley have more in common than their passion for wine. These Illinois women share common gender-related reactions of surprise as they go about their day-to-day jobs in the wine industry, once male-dominated. • The nose knows
• Wine: Good to the last drop
Take sushi-grade surf clam the size of a single-serving cutlet, dredge it in coarse panko-style bread crumbs, pan fry it, dress it in herb mayonnaise and greens and serve it up on a toasted hamburger roll, and what you have is a one-of-a-kind in Chicago.
'It just kind of grew," says Doran Swan of the rooftop garden he and wife Jennifer Cutilletta started a few years ago with a pepper plant or two.
The aroma of ripe pears, particularly in sunlight, is captivating to reader D.S. of Chicago, who requested some yummy pear desserts.
For folks who make a living off lemons, sweetening up this sour news is going to be costly.
They're irresistibly sweet, creamy, and in many parts of the world considered a snack treat: No, not candy, sweet potatoes.
Q. I purchased a new wok pan and wanted to know what's the best way to season it so food won't stick to it. Is it like seasoning cast iron?
There's no question that the ability to recognize smells is an asset for any wine drinker -- male or female -- and the aromas of wine are irrefutably a large part of the pleasure wine provides, but can you develop an ability to perceive aromas?
