Columnist

Sour lemonade for grownups - the Whiskey Sour

Published by admin on Wed, 05/23/2018 - 9:00am

 

The kids are almost out of school, they're playing baseball in Chicago and the unmistakable smell of charcoal smoke fills the Saturday afternoon air.

Profitable plans for the penitentiary, now and then

Published by admin on Wed, 05/23/2018 - 9:00am

 

One of the most ambitious preservation projects that Will County his ever seen is the present plan to clean up and restore at least parts of the old Joliet Penitentiary on Collins Street in Joliet. Many people all around the world are familiar with it, in part because of the Blues Brothers movie. 

Building a landmark, the Joliet Penitentiary

Published by admin on Wed, 05/23/2018 - 9:00am

 

Some important buildings are small, but tell a story about our past, such as the Braidwood Depot. Others are so massive and have such a huge story to tell, that it may be impossible to tell it all.

Rauner puts death penalty on the campagin trail

Published by admin on Mon, 05/21/2018 - 12:22pm

 

Last week’s press conference announcing his latest amendatory veto was, without a doubt, the best press pop Gov. Bruce Rauner has had since he fired his top staff last July and brought in that Illinois Policy Institute crowd (which he also fired). 

Household hints from the 1860's

Published by admin on Wed, 05/16/2018 - 9:00am

    One of the most surprising things about households in the 19th century is that most of them had hired help, even when the family was not all that rich. The reason is that there was just so much physical labor involved in keeping a clean house that extra hands were needed.
    Today we look at household hints published in the newspaper that give us a window into what those housekeepers had to go through.
    Let's start with a column from the June 13, 1865 Joliet Signal.

Gordon’s Cup, a modern classic cocktail

Published by admin on Wed, 05/16/2018 - 9:00am

    New York City was the epicenter of cocktail culture both pre and post prohibition, so it is only fitting that the Big Apple is also the birthplace of the modern cocktail era.
    Manhattan's lower east side is home to Milk and Honey, the first establishment opened by the late Sasha Petraske in 1999. Petraske has been credited with inventing modern cocktail culture and would eventually open 10 bars before his death in 2015.  

Mrs. Lincoln's culinary advice, 1890's style

Published by admin on Wed, 05/16/2018 - 9:00am

I recently went through my collection of recipe books. Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cook Book, published in 1896 caught my eye. Boston Cook Book was a series of cookbooks that was printed on into the 1930's. 

Let's transport ourselves into the kitchen of an 1896 household to see “what's cooking.”

The insanity behind Illinois’ budget process

Published by admin on Mon, 05/14/2018 - 9:31am

 

“Nothing’s more important for a governor than having a good budget because that allows you to manage the state to do your job.”

Let that recent quote from former Gov. Jim Edgar as reported by the State Journal-Register sink in for a bit. 

The Sidecar might be your new favorite

Published by admin on Wed, 05/09/2018 - 9:00am

    Perhaps the most intimidating aisle in any liquor store is the brandy/Cognac aisle. The prices on the bottles range from $7 to $700 or more, and you will find all kinds of VS and VSOP alphabet soup on the labels.
    This week we will decode the mysterious Cognac label and whip up one of the most iconic cognac-based cocktails, The Sidecar.

The abolitionist of Reed Township

Published by admin on Wed, 05/09/2018 - 9:00am

        We rarely talk about Reed Township during the years before the Civil War. There were few people, widely scattered in the Township, and most of those were farmers who quietly went about their own business. But still waters run deep.
    Slavery was the main issue in the 1850's. There was no were you could go, no newspaper you could read, no discussion around the fire that did not involve slavery, abolitionists and the right of states to allow one man to own another.