Brown butter is a magical thing. It’s devastatingly simple to make and transforms everything from cookies to chicken to boxed macaroni and cheese. It’s often thought of as a classic French ingredient, and indeed the late Julia Child, who helped to make French cooking accessible to American home cooks, was known for her love of […]
Newsletter – Event
Posted inArts & Culture
The rise and fall of the Mormons’ new Zion
Prophets who offer a path to peace in this world and redemption in the next have never been rare in the U.S. They were never less rare than in the 1830s and 40s. The direction and pace of social change left many people uneasy in this world and yearning to find a better one with […]
Posted inFood & Drink
A chef’s secret weapon
About 12 years ago I started buying sausages and cured meats from Laurence Mate, an amateur charcuterie maker from Champaign. He had found a way around government regulations by selling memberships to a “buyers club” which he called This Little Piggy. The membership fee was one penny and members could obtain his homemade charcuterie by […]
Posted inMusic
So long September
Yes, that’s meant to be a “so long, been good to know you” and a “it’s been so long of a September” double meaning to this week’s column headline as the ninth month with the seventh moniker has had its ups and downs. But here we are rolling on through 2020, working through the troubles, […]
Posted inMusic
Avery Kern
This talented, ambitious, inspiring and aspiring singer, songwriter, musician and entertainer is doing what it takes to get things done in the business of music show business. From Avery’s recent appearance on the Hollywood version of American Idol (getting that far is a big deal) to attending the esteemed Belmont University in Nashville for business […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Misbehaviour is a bit too tame
There’s a great deal going on in Philippa Lowthorpe’s Misbehaviour. Single mom Sally Alexander (Keira Knightley) is trying to get into a well-respected college while raising her own daughter under the disapproving eye of her own mother. She also helps form the Women’s Liberation Movement, an organization that includes the firebrand Jo Robinson (Jesse Buckley), […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Getting to know buckwheat
Autumn is upon us. After a somewhat frazzled summer I’ve relished walking out into the deliciously crisp air each morning. My hysterical mess of a garden is often framed by a soft blanket of fog, punctuated with bright pumpkins, shriveled cucumber vines and dried up bean plants. A better gardener would have pulled most of […]
Posted inMusic
Feeling fall music
As we approach our third weekend in September, the weather feels like fall and the music feels like it’s falling into place as well. As all scientific and medical advice advise against gathering inside in close quarters, our usual wind-down of outdoor gigs as the weather cools takes on new meaning in 2020. What’s going […]
Posted inMusic
Unchained
Now if this bunch ever were chained, they’re now most definitely unchained, according to their band name and how they perform at live gigs. Based out of Rochester, music-making mates Ty Ellis (bass), Matthew Runions (percussion), Cooper Marx (guitar), Logan McKneelen (guitar), David Allen (vocals) and Lucas McCafferty (vocals) play, according to their website info, […]
Posted inMusic
Music mending musicians
Here we go on into September, looking for ways to shed these pandemic blues. If we keep working together to get through this for the good of all, there will soon be some light at the end of the tunnel and then, hopefully, we get out of the whole dang tunnel completely. For now, let’s […]
Posted inMusic
Rogers & Nienhaus
You would be hard-pressed to find a more dynamic duo than these two fine gentlemen who come with a true blue rock ‘n’ roll pedigree, including time spent as real “Byrds” and with other luminaries of the rock world. But better than their distinguished careers, is listening to them live in person, whether you know […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Strong Finish Mends Broken Hearts
Lucy has certain ideas about love. Every boyfriend she’s had was going to be THE ONE! Her former partners used string to bind their relationship together. Lucy used logging chains. Her level of commitment has never matched that of anyone she’s been with, making heartbreak an inevitability. And to make matters worse, she keeps a […]
