It didn't look like much, zipped into a plastic bag and, well there's no other word for it, fermenting on my desk. But my friend Allie asked me if I'd like some friendship starter and, if there's anything I've learned in this long life of mine, it is to open my heart to friendship. So, [...]
Recipes are never finished. They are living creatures, ongoing conversations. They take suggestions, substitutions, and playful twists. They readily allow for changes in culture, technology, and resources. Cookies with chopped nuts turn to cookies with ground nuts turn to cookies with no nuts at all, thanks to the fickle taste buds of children. Your great-grandma's [...]
My grandfather used to arrive in Appleton two days before Thanksgiving, just in time for the Community Nursery School's annual Thanksgiving Concert. Led by the ironically named Mrs. Gross, tiny students stood in a circle, paper turkeys on their heads, and earnestly belted out the holiday's anthem. Run turkey, run turkey, run far away. For [...]
Though theatre and an in-common spelling of their first names drew them together when they first met as Northwestern University Cherubs in 2006, food has been the main theme of Katherine Biskupic and Katherine Walczak's enduring friendship. Cached photos trace their relationship through restaurants and home kitchens all over the country. Gifted eaters and champions [...]
We sprinted to the finish of 2014, two whirling dervishes of Christmas cheer. Like gangly elves, we shopped and shipped, cooked and cleaned, tasted and toasted, waited and welcomed, cheered and chose. We high-fived as we passed in chaotic hallways, giddy on the adrenalin of a full house. "This is awesome!" we said as we [...]