Old Capitol Farmers Market is open Wednesdays and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. until Oct. 25. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Crisp fall temperatures have arrived, as welcome now as was the first warm spring breeze after a frigidly hellish winter. Even when daytime temperatures rival those in mid-August, the heat isn’t as oppressive, the […]
Julianne Glatz
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Barbecue nation
PHOTO BY BILL HOGAN/MCT “Geez, I’m so sorry, but I can’t do it this year,” I told Jeff Ball. “I haven’t been able to visit my grandson in Brooklyn for ages. And I haven’t seen my son, Robb, since he moved to Vermont last November. Unfortunately the week of Blues and BBQs is the only […]
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Green tomatoes
Pickled green tomatoes will keep at least 6 months in the refrigerator allowing you to enjoy your fall harvest through the new year. PHOTO PETER GLATZ Of course, my childhood’s late summer/early fall biggest tradition was beginning school. But there were culinary traditions, too. The seasonal tomato flood reached its peak, and canning tomatoes either […]
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Chef of celebrities
Jaime Laurita, the Hope Institute’s Celebrity Chef for this year’s benefit. The Hope Institute for Children and Families is breaking new ground this year. Their choice of chef for the 20th Annual Hope Celebrity Chef fundraiser isn’t at the helm of a highly regarded (usually Chicago) restaurant, as have been the chefs at earlier benefits. […]
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Steak your claim
If you’re grilling steak this Labor Day weekend, why not grill extra for a second meal later in the week? Below are three of my favorite ways to use leftover steak, although, they’re delicious enough that I sometimes grill steak just to make them. This is wonderful picnic or travel fare. It can be made […]
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Being there
Former president Richard Nixon The passage of the Civil Right’s Act 50 summers ago has gotten lots of media attention this year, and rightly so. But there’s been little – at least that I’ve heard – of the 40th anniversary of another milestone in American history. I’d forgotten that Watergate and Nixon’s resignation happened in […]
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Tropical treats
Small coconuts make great containers to hold coconut creme brulee. PHOTO BY DAVID HINE Most of my summer desserts focus on seasonal fruits at their succulently flavorful peak: berries, melons, peaches, nectarines and plums bought at farmers markets and roadside stands. But tropical desserts are also appropriate in summer. Here are four favorites including one […]
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Family fair memories
PHOTO COURTESY SANGAMON VALLEY COLLECTION It was the lodestone of my childhood summers. The Illinois State Fair was something I looked forward to almost as soon as the previous year’s fair ended. But after our annual Fourth of July picnic, I could think of little else, planning for it carefully as the fair inched closer […]
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More recipes for my visiting veg-heads
These tuiles will be a welcome treat for olive and cookie lovers of all ages PHOTO BY DAVID HINE It’s been a wonderful few days with my visiting veg-heads, oldest daughter Anne and grandson Robbie. Their visit is half over, and already I’m thinking about how much I’ll miss them. Truthfully, I haven’t done as […]
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Vegetarian dishes for summer visitors
Chilled curried carrot soup PHOTO BY JOSEPH COPLEY By the time you read this, they’ll be here, my oldest daughter, Anne, and 3 1/2-year-old grandson Robbie. Since Robbie came into our lives, we’ve visited back and forth frequently. But for the last 11 months for a variety of reasons both legitimate and unavoidable, planned visits […]
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Saving summer’s bounty
Summer’s harvest brings an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. Freezing and canning can preserve the bounty well into the winter months. PHOTO BY TODD SUMLIN/MCT Not so long ago, almost every family – rich and poor, country and city dwellers – preserved much of their own food. From late summer until first frost, kitchens […]
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Sweet on sweet corn
Are there any sights, sounds and smells more evocative of a Midwest summer than those of fresh corn on the cob waiting to be shucked? The leaves are still crisp and green; the aroma’s corny and delicious; the husks squeak when they’re ripped away to reveal the tender kernels. For anyone who’s ever grown and […]
