Your Guide to Chicago's Northcenter, Lincoln Square and Ravenswood Manor.
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Cookie Monsters, This Week’s for You
Having created National Cookie Week in 2011 as a way for bakeries to communally promote their goods, Michael Munoz, who blogs under the handle of The Gay Gourmet!, realized, “I can’t call this National Cookie Week if I don’t make it national.” So for the 2012 edition, he branched out from his native New York [...]
Blue Sky Basks in Sun Shine Award
Christmas came early for Blue Sky Bakery and Cafe, 3720 N. Lincoln Ave., which is basking in a grant award from the Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust’s Sun Shine Project. A winner in the Youth Social Service and Civic Affairs category, Blue Sky will receive $5,000 from the Sun-Times, no small chunk of change in an [...]
Turkey Day Countdown: Where to Get Your Food and Drinks
There are about as many ways to celebrate Thanksgiving as there are stuffing recipes. (Or would that be dressing recipes? See what I mean.) The single requirement: You simply positively must make a pig of yourself. Allow us to help. Whether you’re planning to dine out, prepare the feast yourself or have it catered, we’ve [...]
The CakeSpy Brings Her Tour de Sweet to Angel Food Bakery
I’m pretty sure Jessie Oleson, aka the CakeSpy, is my soulmate. As a child, she snacked on butter dipped in sugar, I spooned Crisco out of the can; we separately came to the conclusion that the only way to improve upon the doughnut is to double fry it; and we share the opinion that crumb [...]
National Vanilla Cupcake Day: Where To Get Your Fix
As if there weren’t enough reasons to pig out in November (it is, after all, National Fun With Fondue Month), it turns out November 10 is National Vanilla Cupcake Day. But wait, we thought every day was cupcake day. For those who strictly observe any and all food holidays, we’ve put together a neighborhood cupcake [...]
Blue Sky Needs Votes to Win $20K Grant
Blue Sky Bakery & Cafe, 3720 N. Lincoln Ave., is one of more than 100 organizations in the running for a grant from the Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust. In total, the trust will award $500,000 in grants to charities that support youth in education, art and civic engagement, with Blue Sky aiming for a $20,000 [...]
Angel Food Celebrates Anniversary With Contests for Kids, Adults
“I’m surprised I’m still here,” says Stephanie Samuels, owner of Angel Food Bakery, 1636 W. Montrose Ave. Not only is Angel Food still standing, but Samuels is celebrating the shop’s seventh anniversary with a pair of contests aimed at rewarding her loyal customers, both adults and children. For the grown-ups, Samuels is posting trivia questions [...]
Angel Food Bakery Puts Devilishly Delicious Spin on Classic Treats
Before the cupcake, there was the CupCake, along with Ho-Hos, King Dons (aka, Ding Dongs, it’s a long story), Twinkies and other lesser members of the Hostess and Little Debbie families. Stephanie Samuels grew up with these popular packaged snack cakes so when she opened her own bakery, Angel Food, 1636 W. Montrose Ave., she [...]
Get Your Sugar Fix at Sweet Sensations
Let this be a warning to fans of Internet shopping: Sharin Nathan went online to look for a used mixer and wound up buying an entire bakery. In 2010, the pastry chef, formerly of Charlie Trotter’s and Harvest on Huron, was ready to wield her whisk again after taking a hiatus to raise her two [...]
Coming Soon: Amy’s Candy Bar
If this were a romantic comedy, when Amy Hansen lost her job, she would’ve drowned her sorrows in a pint of chocolate ice cream. In actuality, Hansen did turn to sweets for comfort, just not in a predictable Drew Barrymore kind of way. She decided to open a candy store. Coming soon to Damen Avenue: [...]
Volunteer With Blue Sky Bakery at Summer Farmers Markets
Have you ever daydreamed about setting up your own stand at a farmers market? Here’s your chance, and the beauty is, you don’t need to plant or harvest a single crop. Blue Sky Bakery & Cafe (3720 N. Lincoln), which provides job training for homeless and at-risk youth, sells its freshly baked pastries at the [...]
Blue Sky Serves Up Breakfast for Dinner
When I was a kid, one of my favorite things about meatless Fridays during Lent were the nights my mom would make French toast for dinner. She’d lightly coat the bread in egg batter, flavored with a hint of cinnamon, and brown each slice to perfection—not too dark, not too light. Served a stack hot [...]
Get Your Pastries for Purim
Paczkis are so last week. This week it’s all about the hamantaschen. For the uninitiated, hamantaschen are three-cornered cookies traditionally filled with prune or poppyseed (though other fruits, nuts or even chocolate are acceptable) and eaten during the Jewish celebration of Purim. Purim falls on March 20 this year (technically starting at sundown on March [...]
Where to Get Your Paczkis on Fat Tuesday
What dyeing the Chicago River green is to St. Patrick’s Day, the paczki is to Fat Tuesday. What’s not to love about these crème- and fruit-filled puffs of fried dough? Just that they only come around once a year. Originally created by the Poles as a way to use up lard, sugar, eggs and fruit [...]
Calling All Foodies: Nominate Your Favorites for Beard Awards
Deep dish pizza. Italian beef sandwiches. If you didn’t live here, that’s all you’d think Chicagoans ate. We know better. The city boasts an incredibly diverse cuisine, amazing chefs and top-drawer restaurants. If you have a favorite that you’d like to see earn some well-deserved national attention, here’s your chance: nominate them for a James [...]
