One of the grandest things about living in Chicago is the park system. Aside from the beautifully-tended landscapes all up and down the shore of Lake Michigan, there are constantly free events for the public to enjoy. During the Summer, you can find something to do every day of the week. Free movies? Free concerts? Free [...]
Author Archives: Beth
Summer Cocktail: Back Porch Spice
August 8, 2010 – 1:38 AM
This was the weather yesterday. Yes, I live in Chicago. We have “beaches” here, next to Lake Michigan, and there just so happens to be one at the end of my street. Sometimes the lake looks murky and brown, but sometimes it looks blue as the Caribbean. Yesterday was one of the latter, and the [...]
My Old Kentucky Bourbon Trail: Part II
August 3, 2010 – 3:04 PM
(This is a two-part post. For part one, click here.) If there are two things Kentucky is known for, it’s Bourbon and horses; and they sure know what they’re doing with both. After leaving the Maker’s Mark distillery (as described in Part I), we decided to stop in at famed Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky [...]
My Old Kentucky Bourbon Trail: Part I
July 20, 2010 – 3:01 PM
This two-part post is a slight departure, as there are no recipes, but it does involve Things Culinary. I thought you might like to read about it and see some pictures. As I’ve mentioned before, I lived in Louisville for a few years. My time there was full of good food, great Bourbon, and some [...]
Garlic Scape Pesto
July 6, 2010 – 12:18 PM
I have a love/hate relationship with farmers markets. I know I’m supposed to love them; and I mostly do. Put me in the middle of a well-run market, and I’m like a kid in a candy store. I become positively exuberant, and I want to buy it all and cook absolutely everything. So much gorgeous [...]
World Cup Party: USA vs Algeria
June 29, 2010 – 11:59 AM
I know it’s old hat by now, but I wanted to share the menu I prepared for a recent World Cup party in honor of the US game against Algeria. (I might’ve shown you the US versus Slovenia menu, but I forgot my camera that night.) I’m relatively new to the cuisine of Northern Africa, [...]
Alfajores; Or, The Best Sandwich Cookies You’ve Never Had
June 18, 2010 – 11:34 AM
To explain how I discovered the Best Sandwich Cookie Probably Ever, I must begin with soccer. For those of you who aren’t big into soccer, allow me to explain: it’s World Cup time. To put it in more familiarly American terms, imagine if the Super Bowl were held only once every four years. And imagine [...]
Savory and Sweet: Hand Pies
June 4, 2010 – 12:42 PM
(This is part three of a three-part collaboration with Cybelle Codish and Taryn Bickley. For part one, click here. For part two, click here.) As soon as Spring breaks here in Chicago, something amazing happens. Aside from the trees greening themselves overnight, and the frenzied blooming of flowers, there’s a sea change of a decidedly more human [...]
Savory and Sweet: Quinoa
June 3, 2010 – 10:58 AM
This is the second of a three-part collaboration with Cybelle Codish and Taryn Bickley. For the first part, click here. For the third part, click here. Quinoa, for those of you not familiar with it, is an ancient grain (well, pseudocereal, to be exact) from South America. Pronounced “KEEN-wa”, it’s a rare plant source of [...]