The food media tends to celebrate the hottest new restaurant, whipping up a frenzy of excitement, then quickly moving on to the next shiny opening. It’s not necessarily the fault of food journalists per se (we love spotlighting the latest and greatest new spots just as much as you love reading about them), but rather […]
Pictured above: Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Baking Mix from Become Betty. Fall is here, and that means it’s pumpkin spice season. And when pumpkin spice season hits, it hits hard. We understand that going into Trader Joe’s during October can be a bit overwhelming, so we tried some of TJ’s […]
Pizza is my ride or die. I’ve been obsessed with it pretty much since birth. It is, after all, the perfect marriage of bread and cheese, with the freewheeling ability to morph styles and flavor profiles, happily incorporating nearly any ingredient in its path (I am not now, nor will I ever be, down with […]
This October, let’s not only “think pink,” but buy pink as well. Our favorite pink products give back by donating proceeds from their sales to fund breast cancer education and research. According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. But there’s some good news — in part […]
Cognac is not just for sipping around the fireplace in winter anymore. The iconic French brandy is surprisingly excellent in cocktails and quite versatile to pair with food as well. In warm weather, try it with ginger ale or with champagne and angostura bitters. Since the mid-19th century, cognac was the spirit of choice for […]
National Chocolate Day (Oct. 28) is right around the corner. If you’re really serious about chocolate, book your flight to Seattle for the Northwest Chocolate Festival in November — it’s the best chocolate festival in the country. If that’s not in the cards, don’t worry. These pastry chefs in Chicago have you covered for all […]
It’s an inauspicious start. You begin your visit to the mysterious Teatro ZinZanni via the nondescript entry lobby of the Cambria Hotel in the very heart of The Loop. But it gets exponentially more interesting when you are quickly ushered up to the 14th floor and enter into a once-forgotten, now reclaimed, two-story ballroom that […]
Goodbye, summer. You were a bit rainy this year, though still glorious. Now it’s time to head back to reality: classes, shorter days, puffer coats. But fall also means butternut squash soup, apple crisps, your favorite scarf, and the occasional PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latté, natch) — not to mention a slew of great new restaurants […]
Fall is almost here, which means it’s time to start planning a day trip to one of the many apple orchards and/or pumpkin patches around the Chicago area. Plus, the arrival of fall means there will be plenty of days perfect for snuggling up in a cozy sweater with a good book or the hottest […]
When you go to Door County, Wisconsin, there are a few things you simply must do. At this time of year, you must take a walk in the woods to enjoy the turning leaves; during warmer months, you take in a performance at the Northern Sky Theater; just about any time of year, however, you […]
