This past weekend the Chicago Food Swap returned to The Chopping Block, the spacious and beautiful cooking school located in the iconic Merchandise Mart, for its April swap. And it was an outstanding afternoon of sampling, swapping and shopping. As I said in my opening remarks to the group, when we are at The Chopping Block, it is like the ...
Recap of the February Chicago Food Swap
The Chicago Food Swap held its February swap this past weekend, on February 8, at the kitchens of All Natural Chicago Catering, a local catering company specializing in healthy, freshly made food for corporate and private events. Husband and wife owners Tess and Mickey -- he's the chef -- were incredibly gracious hosts and everyone loved their ...
The Ultimate Cranberry Orange Scone Recipe
This is perhaps the third scone recipe I have published. How often can one person make scones, you may ask. Well, you see, I often have some of my girlfriends over for coffee during the week and when I do so, I like to make a special treat for them. But I have a limited time -- maybe an hour -- in which to bake something between dropping my kids at ...
Roasted Garlic Hummus for the Chicago Food Swap
Last Saturday was the second anniversary Chicago Food Swap. It's amazing how this community has grown in such a short time. From the dozen or so swappers at that first event in December 2011, the Chicago Food Swap has grown to a community of several hundred people with events that regularly draw eighty or ninety. Each swap, it seems, is a mix of ...
Maple Pecan Cherry Granola
Eating breakfast is a struggle for me. While I love traditional breakfast foods like eggs and pancakes, those are more of a weekend breakfast treat. Weekdays mornings are too rushed for that kind of cooking. Sadly, most quick breakfast foods -- cereal, fruit and the like -- don't appeal to me. And I hate eating something just for the sake of ...
Bread Machine Swedish Cinnamon Buns
One of my favorite items from May's Chicago Food Swap were Swedish Cinnamon Buns by veteran swapper Rachel. These yeasty sweet buns sprinkled with pearl sugar disappeared all too quickly the day after the swap, leaving me with nothing but crumbs and a burning desire to bake some more. If the mention of cinnamon buns conjures up images of over-sized ...