For food lovers, Thanksgiving is the most important day of the year. A whole holiday dedicated to food, drink, and celebrating the bounty of our land, with no commercial or religious overtones.

The menu for Thanksgiving dinner is so traditional it is almost rote. Turkey, stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes, something...

Turkey, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie. No other meal has such a set menu. So what to serve?

When cooked properly, turkey can be flavorful and moist. When overcooked, as it often is, the dry meat is neutral and unexciting. So we moisten it with gravy and...

It's last call at two fine dining landmarks in downtown Chicago, the 90-year-old Don Roth's Blackhawk and the 32-year-old Nick's Fishmarket.

According to reports in Chicago newspapers, the Blackhawk, famous for warm hospitality, great service, steaks, seafood and its "spinning salad bowl," will close the downtown location at the end...

Marshall Efron, best known for the PBS show "The Great American Dream Machine" and children's books like "Bible Stories You Can't Forget: No Matter How Hard You Try" loves food. Just look at his profile. Well fans have been posting some of his shorts to YouTube and amn them there...

Last week the New York Times published Part 1 of an article 100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do by Bruce Buschel. Today he posted Part 2. It's a great list, and one can only hope servers, hosts, chefs, and owners are printing it and posting it on...

I'm not a fan of shish kebabs (or kabobs or kebobs for that matter). I like red meat rare to medium rare inside. It is most tender and juicy when pink to red. I also like meat crisp and dark on the outside when the Maillard effect has had...

The Chicago Tribune's Christopher Borrelli asked chefs, restaurant experts, and the owners of a food bookstore in Maine: "What were the 10 worst dining trends of the last decade?" and got some great answers.

I couldn't include every gripe -- mache, water sommeliers, organ-meat entrees, unisex bathrooms, bacon tattoos on...

Gourmet Magazine, the beloved 68 year old grande dame of culinaria, died on October 5, 2009. And the obits say I killed her.

Jennie Yabroff's autopsy in Newsweek blames Gourmet's elitism and people like me. To make her point, she quotes a story from the July issue of...

Here's a motto that will improve your food immensely: Mise en place (pronounced MEEZ-ahn-plahss). It's French and it means, roughly, "everything in its place", and it is the best thing from France since Pinot Noir. It can prevent disasters. The basic concept is to get all the ingredients out and...

Bratwurst (braht-vurst), better known as brats, are the official food of University of Wisconsin and Green Bay Packer fans. They are great tailgate food. UW is based in Madison, which calls itself the "Brat Capital of the World" and is home of the giant annual "Brat Fest" over Memorial...

Did you watch the 2008 Olympics in Beijing? Did you see those incredible opening ceremonies? How will Chicago top that in 2016? Here are some ideas for how we might show the world what Chicago culture is all about:

- The Chinese had dancers in glowing costumes. We can have...

Rubs are spice mixes that you can apply to raw food before cooking and there are scores of commercial blends on the market. But there's no need to buy a rub when you can make your own and customize it to your taste. And they're easy to make!

Here's my...

With smoke woven through shards of moist meat and potent bits of strongly seasoned crust mixed in, pulled pork makes the ultimate Southern sandwich.

The best pulled pork is made from a hunk of meat that is marbled with flavorful fat and connective tissue loaded with unctuous collagen and not...

Here's how to make low and slow smoke roasted "Last Meal Ribs" on just about any covered grill and make slabs better than they do in restaurants. You'll never boil ribs again. That's because water is a solvent and it pulls much of the flavor out of the meat. When...

I haven't protested since they wanted to draft me in the '60s, but I've had all I can take and I'm gonna be at the next clown hall meeting with my Senator carrying a banner and my concealed handgun.

My buddy Benny, a salesman who listens to his talk radio...

The delicious new film Julie & Julia is Nora Ephron's clever weaving of two memoirs, Julia Child's "My Life in France" and Julie Powell's "Julie/Julia Project".

In 2004, at age 91, Child wrote of the time she and her husband Paul spent in France, from 1948-1954, during which she learned...

It is late Wednesday morning and Candy Sue Weaver is on the road again, barreling through Arkansas. Her iPod is pumping Henry Gross, Eagles, and Delbert McClinton through her radio and she is just as pumped. She can taste victory up the road. Weaver is a sportswoman, and she is...

It will be a massive achievement if President Barack Obama can shepherd a workable health care plan through Congress.

If his efforts to save the world's economy really click and revive General Motors as well as my moribund retirement investments, his legacy is assured.

If peace holds in Iraq...

Every dog has its day, and for hot dogs that day is July 4. About 150 million hot dogs were wolfed down last Independence Day, enough to stretch from DC to LA more than five times, according to the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council. If you're planning...

Print this page and take it shopping.

There are too many to count. There are small disposable units for tailgating, and huge monsters that attach to your tailgate and have as many wheels as your SUV.

And they range in price. A nice hibachi that will make great steaks (really)...