My first was at the U of I campus town in Champaign back in the ’70s. The place was Zorba’s, a dark and dingy dive that smelled of stale beer and broiling meat. It was my first gyro. Waiti
Except for 1985, when the Chicago Bears won Superbowl XX, and in 2006 when they lost Superbowl XLI to the Indianapolis Colts, I’ve never much cared who was playing. For me, the Superbowl is usua
I was afraid this would happen. When I wrote about local cooking classes earlier this month, I tried to find everything available. But I had a nagging feeling that there were more. And there were. I&r
“Have you ever been to Bologna? Oh, I take you there someday. You will love this place. Bologna is sad, a little. The city is old… but the food! They make there a dish called Lasagna Bolo
One of my first catering jobs was for a dinner party given by a cardiology group to honor a colleague who’d come to lecture at SIU Medical School. I thought it would be a creative challenge to c
The holidays are over. It’s cold and dark and gloomy outside. Why not chase away those midwinter doldrums by taking a cooking class or two? A variety of cooking classes are being offered locally
It’s hard to believe I’m once again writing the last column of the year. As always, when I look back over what I’ve written during the last 12 months, I think of information I couldn
It really is a small world. If I hadn’t known it before, it was brought home to me when I first journeyed to New Zealand. My youngest daughter, Ashley, was going there to study viticulture and o
Looking for something to give to the cooks on your holiday shopping list? Here are some suggestions for books that will be equally welcomed by would-be, novice and experienced practitioners of the cul
They’re everywhere: cookies, candies, and more cookies – an avalanche of cookie walks, cookie exchanges, tins of gift cookies. Same old, same old. Don’t get me wrong, I love cookies,