Kitchen Witch | Thursday, July 6,2006

Brushetta, the right way

The toppings can vary, but good bread essential

I embarrassed my husband at a restaurant recently. It wasn’t the first time, and it probably won’t be the last. After the server described the appetizer special, I interrupted hi

Kitchen Witch | Thursday, July 6,2006

Rum means more fun

Summer is all about cocktails and here are a few favorites

By Kim O’Donnel

Nine months of the year, I’m a wine drinker, with an occasional foray into Bourbon-Nightcap Land. But when sultry breezes, late sunsets, and humidity come to town, my beverage choices

Kitchen Witch | Thursday, June 29,2006

Man's best friend

There’s no dog like a Chicago dog

By Julianne Glatz

The menu board listed them as “Garbage Trucks,” which was a pretty fair description. The place was Abe’s, a dingy, grungy dive a few steps down from the street in the University of I

Kitchen Witch | Thursday, June 29,2006

Summer on a stick

Try Vietnamese-style chicken thighs and never leave your Tiki hut

By Kim O’Donnel

Modern-day calendar-keepers may tell us that summer begins with Memorial Day weekend, but if you’re an astronomical diehard you know it really didn’t kick off until June 21, when the sun w

Kitchen Witch | Thursday, June 22,2006

A passion for potatoes

Don’t take America’s favorite vegetable for granted

By Julianne Glatz

Have you ever eaten new potatoes — potatoes with skins so thin they scrub off easily with a vegetable brush, with flesh so lusciously creamy, it’s almost decadent? You might be s

Kitchen Witch | Thursday, June 22,2006

Cooking for the cook

Guess who’s a pain in the ass?

By Kim O’Donnel

Cooks are a pain in the ass to cook for. I should know — I’m one of them. Friends tell me all the time that even the thought of cooking for me is intimidating, and I have

Kitchen Witch | Thursday, June 15,2006

Wannabe a what?

So you think becoming a chef is easy?

By Julianne Glatz

It was 4:30 a.m. and pitch-black, and a nasty, chilly drizzle was falling as I pointed my car toward the CIA. I peered through the windshield, the monotonous rhythm of the wipers luring me b

Kitchen Witch | Thursday, June 15,2006

Very berry buckle

Blame it on the potato

By Kim O’Donnel

It really was my fault, but I blame it on the potato. Preparations for a Memorial Day get-together with friends were sailing along. I was embroiled in side-dish duty and dessert detai

Kitchen Witch | Thursday, June 8,2006

Al fresco pleasures

Some favorite places to eat outside in the capital city

By Julianne Glatz

Years ago the only places Americans ate outdoors were in back yards, picnic areas, fairgrounds, and campsites. To eat and drink at an outdoor cafe or restaurant, you had to cross an ocean. A

Kitchen Witch | Thursday, June 8,2006

Fish gone wild

Recipe for salmon steaks and a side of roasted broccoli

By Kim O’Donnel

Every May, there’s a big homecoming in Alaska, and everyone and his mother in the lower 48 wants an invitation. From now until the kids go back to school, the cold waters of the Copper