Ann Lemons Pollack
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Spinach Casserole
No holiday stirs my gastronomic id as much as Thanksgiving, nor my curiosity, either. Probably the most vivid example of this occurred in a suburb of Dallas several years ago. Joe’s middle daughter is a rabid Black Friday shopper (that’s the day after Thanksgiving, for you non-shoppers) and has often persuaded me to go along
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This Week’s Wine November 17, 2007
Thanksgiving is on its way – it will be here next week, as a matter of fact, and it’s time to stock up on potables to accompany the feast. Over the years, as so-called experts have relaxed and allowed the ordinary drinker and wine-lover to relax, too, when it came time to stock the pantry
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F15teen
The handsome new restaurant at the corner of 19th and Locust Streets is not named for its location. Already, lots of folks are looking for F15teen on, well, sure, 15th Street. Although the formal address is 1900 Locust St., the entrance is on 19th Street, which can cause more confusion, too. Perseverance, however, makes the
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Chicago: Tru and Everest
Two major dinners at two equally major Chicago restaurants left us realizing that we couldn’t decide which was best. We’d called for reservations at Everest, whose name is due to its location on the 40th floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange, but we sort of fell into dinner at Tru, which turned out to be
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White Castles and – latkes?
Stop the presses. A local person has won the annual White Castle recipe contest, utilizing them (minus pickles) in latkes, the great potato pancake. You can read about it here, finding out just how Leslye Louis of New Melle does it. This should have been all over the local media. One of us was so
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Araka
Araka has made an interesting choice with what’s known as a "soft" opening. Unlike many new restaurants, there was little fanfare, no big advertising. This is generally a good idea, allowing the kitchen and front of the house to gradually get into rhythm before the hoped-for hot-spot rush. Even with experienced restaurateurs and chefs, the
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Dressing A Salad
Green salad season is here at our house. Summer salads, especially when local tomatoes are peaking, are more exciting, but good greens are a staple in cooler weather. My usual choice is a mixture of romaine and Boston or Bibb lettuces, the one crisp, the other tender. Properly dressed, that’s often enough. But add-ins are
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This Week’s Wine, November 1, 2007
Verona, in northeastern Italy, is theatrically famous for being the setting of "Romeo and Juliet," the tragic tale of two love-struck but ill-fated teenagers. For a fan of wine, however, it’s now more famous as the home of Vinitaly, an annual wine trade show, competition and fair that is the largest in the world. I’ve
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Winter Farmers’ Markets
The last Tower Grove Farmers’ Market of the season has passed. With the global climate change, we still found some good tomatoes and peppers, along with what we’d expect in the autumn. The growing season is getting longer and in a few years, they’ll probably be running until just before Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, we have
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Doughnut Alert
We stopped by LaMar’s Donuts the other day. It seems like we never manage to get to a doughnut shop when they’re fully stocked. On the day in question, one of the early hunter-and-gatherers had walked in and asked for 14 dozen doughnuts—and they hadn’t called ahead. (Note: This isn’t a way to make friends