Food & Drink

The holiday season is upon us, and for the curious cooks and bakers in our lives, there’s no better gift than a new cookbook to inspire their culinary adventures. This fall saw the release of several wonderful cookbooks that are sure to spark creativity. These are my top picks for the best new cookbooks for […]

When planning a holiday soiree you may want to pull out your finest china, splurge on a big roast and treat your guests to fancy hors d’oeuvres. Other occasions, however, call for a more casual, laid back and economical approach. A winter soup and salad party is a delicious theme, made even better thanks to […]

Once upon a time, before my hair turned gray, my teenage children “kidnapped” me for my birthday and drove me up to Chicago for a Cubs game, followed by dinner at a Colombian restaurant. Our overly aggressive server, who reeked of cannabis, recommended the “combination” platter. My daughter, who was a vegetarian, requested a meatless […]

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love your attractive yellow and green striped skin. I love your light orange flesh and mild, sweet, almost nutty flavor. I love your compact size. I love that you are easy to slice through and your tender edible skin doesn’t require peeling. You cook […]

However you celebrate the holidays, the lengthening nights that mark the approach of winter solstice call for cozy cooking and spending time with the people you love. Whether you’re prepping for a big family get-together or just want to make the most of baking and soup season, having a clean and organized space will help […]

Over my five-year career as a chef, I’ve made thousands of ravioli. I was once the pasta maker at Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis and Pastaria in Nashville. A raviolo (the singular of ravioli) is a type of dumpling with a filling sealed between two thin layers of pasta dough. At both restaurants, I made […]

Brandy is essentially a spirit distilled from wine or fermented fruit juice. Grape-based brandy such as Cognac, which hails from a specific area in southwestern France, or Chilean Pisco are the most common. However, specialty varieties made from other fruits such as apples, pears and even raspberries have existed in Europe for centuries. There is […]

I am the designated pickler and fermenter at my current restaurant job. Because we are a farm-to-table restaurant with a full-time gardener, our menu changes weekly, inspired by what’s coming out of our kitchen garden. This summer’s weather has been extremely kind to our garden, and our tomatoes are beautiful and prolific. With such abundance, […]

If you’ve ever cracked open a can of pumpkin, there’s a good chance it was grown and produced up the road in Morton, just outside of Peoria. According to the University of Illinois Extension, Illinois farmers harvested more than twice as many acres of pumpkins in 2022 as the next five states combined, with production […]

I will remember the summer of 2024 as my Summer of the Goat. I’ve been boondocking in my converted school bus beside a goat barn and working at Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery’s farm-to-table restaurant Caprae in Champaign. This job has been like a Willy Wonka golden ticket for a cheese lover. Our chèvre (which […]

It was a good year to be a vegetable gardener in central Illinois. An early start in the spring rolled right on into a hot but not too dry summer, perfect for growing whopper tomatoes, peppers and zucchini. In my garden, branches on the bell pepper plants are so overloaded I’ve twice had to replace […]