What to Cook

All featured products are curated independently by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, we may receive a commission. If you’re watching the big game, guacamole is non-negotiable, and homemade is always best. But how do you prevent the dreaded brown guacamole—and how does packaged guac stay bright green? If you’ve ever cut open an avocado, you know it’s only a matter of time before it starts to turn brown. Even your homemade guac will discolor after a while. Why is that? Oxidation. In the same way sun exposure ages our skin, oxygen is the enemy of fruit that doesn’t want to brown. Specifically, avocados and other fruits have an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase. When it consorts with oxygen, brown pigments form in the green flesh. Hence, when you leave out freshly made guacamole or a cut-up avocado, it turns brown pretty quickly. But packaged guacamole always seems to be bright green upon purchase, despite having sat on the shelf for countless days. What’s up...

The grocery store Aldi is catching heat online after it paid an influencer to participate in a challenge, in which she had to feed her family for a week with only $32. The campaign, which used the hashtag #AldiPoorestDayChallenge, was launched to “showcase just how easily you can feed your family healthy, balanced and affordable meals” from the “poorest day of the year” until pay. Jan. 24 has been coined the poorest day of the year because it falls around the time post-Christmas bills start rolling in, according to a press release from Aldi. To prove their point, the grocery chain asked U.K. fashion influencer Natalie Lee to feed her family of four for a week on a fixed budget. “Aldi has challenged me to feed my family of 4 for a whole week – breakfast, lunch and dinner for $32 to see if it’s possible,” Lee wrote to her 76,000 Instagram followers in a post clearly marked as a paid ad. “January is probably the hardest month of the year financially for most people, so I’m interested...

Amazon’s data prowess and customer knowledge will drive its growth in retail grocery and make it an ongoing threat to brick-and-mortar food retailers, according to a new analysis from Brick Meets Click. So far, Amazon has established a “strong beachhead in grocery” but gained only a fraction of the overall market by capturing “the low-hanging fruit,” Brick Meets Click said in its “Guidance for 2020: What’s Next for Amazon in Grocery?” report, released yesterday. The Barrington, Ill.-based strategic advisory firm noted, however, that Amazon has set its sights on becoming the main source of groceries for a higher number of affluent U.S. households. Related: Amazon reports Q3 dip in physical store sales “We anticipate that Amazon will focus on three areas to help strengthen its grocery business over the next year or two,” Bill Bishop, chief architect at Brick Meets Click, said in a statement. Those strategies, he said, include aggressive customer acquisition by leveraging the Prime c...

The Blizzard Blast Charity Event is Friday, Jan 31 st at the Glencoe City Center starting at 5 pm. Enjoy Dinner by Chef Craig, live and Silent Auctions, raffles and music while benefitting hospice. Tickets are $35, available at Allina Home Health, Glencoe Regional Health, Cash Wise Hutchinson, Coborns Glencoe, King Pin Pub Plato, and Johnson Mcbride Funeral Chapel of Glencoe. ——————— Spaghetti Supper at the Kingston Apostolic Lutheran Church will be on Friday, Jan 31 st from 5-7 pm. Serving a Pasta Bar with choice of sauce, Salad, Breadstick and more! Donations go to the Church. ———————– THE HAMBURG HUNTING AND FISHING CLUB’S 41ST ANNUAL FISH FRY AT THE HAMBURG COMMUNITY HALL THIS SATURDAY, Feb 1 FROM 11a-6 p. TAKE OUT ORDERS, PIE AND ICE CREAM AVAILABLE!! ADULTS $12.00…CHILDREN 5 TILL 12 $6.00 AND UNDER FIVE FREE. ——————– Members and friends of Grace Bible Church in Silver Lake will be starting their next   session of an archery ministry called Centershot for a...

The Federal Reserve stayed put on its interest rate policy on Jan 29, after three rate cuts in 2019. It also hinted at keeping interest rates unchanged in 2020 unless there is any drastic change in the economic outlook. The central bank has kept the benchmark interest rates at the band of 1.50-1.75%. The Federal Reserve put stress on the importance of raising inflation to officials’ target. The Fed has acknowledged the strength of the U.S. job market while raised concerns about the new coronavirus from China. Fed chair Powell indicated that the coronavirus outbreak is “a significant thing which will have some effects on the Chinese economy, at least in the short term.” The World Health Organization plans to reconsider whether the new virus outbreak from China should be seen as a global pandemic. Great Time for TIPS ETFs? TIPS offers robust real returns during inflationary periods unlike its unprotected peers in the fixed-income world. These securities pay an interest on ...

Please enable Javascript to watch this video ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The Better Business Bureau is telling consumers to be aware of the potential for fraud as they prepare to file tax returns. Rushing to file could be a mistake, especially if you have a complicated return. If you decide to hire a tax preparer the BBB advises the following: Ask for referrals from friends, but review the preparer's customer service record at BBB.org or by calling 888-996-3887 before you hire anyone. Be wary of promises that you'll get a refund. Until the preparer knows your situation, there is no way to know whether you'll get a refund or how big it will be. Check accessibility. You may need to contact your preparer after tax season is over. Read the contract. Know what preparing your return will cost, what the fee covers and whether the cost changes if you have a complicated return. Check your return: before you sign the return, read it over to check for mistakes. Ask the prepare...

When teaching my Introduction to Digital Photography classes , I always start by asking each member of the group to introduce themselves and to say what genres of photography they hope to improve on. The most popular answer I get is “children”. Canon EOS 6D, EF40mm f/2.8 STM, 40mm, ISO 100, 1/800, f/2.8 The funny thing is, that’s exactly how I got into photography in the first place. I wanted to create meaningful memories of my kids, capturing “real” moments and creating images that were more than just snapshots. I thought I would share some of the most common tips that I give to my students when they ask me for advice on photographing their own children. By the way, these tips apply to all types of cameras, so no need for a fancy expensive camera to apply these guiding principles! Here we go! Focus on the Eyes Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, EF70-200mm f/2.8 IS II USM, 200mm, ISO 160, 1/160, f/2.8 As human beings, when we look at someone, we’re wired to try to make eye contact first...

The book “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair was meant to focus on immigrants facing wage gaps that ever last for decades, immigrants being more likely to get more dangerous jobs and undocumented immigrants often being victimized by other employees or even their bosses. In other words, Sinclair said he was aiming to describe immigrant workers’ experience. People who read the book didn’t focus on the immigrants as much as they focused on the sanitation of their meat. The book did repeatedly show dangerous work content, alcoholism, violence  and systemic corruption as well as a family in poverty, yet almost every aspect of society comes and attacks them in any way, shape or form. For example, Ona, the wife of Jurgis, got raped by her boss, repeatedly, and kept it a secret in order to keep her job and provide for her family. Once Jurgis found out he went to beat up the boss, but unfortunately he got thrown in jail because the boss lied, saying he was the innocent man instead of Jurgis. ...

Chefs Leilani Baugh, Chauncy Yarngo and Lamont Perriman competed in the 2018 Black Food and Wine Experience food competition; Baugh and Perriman will compete again at this year’s event. Photo: Black Food and Wine Experience In the ‘90s, Aminah Robinson had attained her dream of going to culinary school, but the experience opened her eyes in ways she hadn’t foreseen. She was one of two black chefs in her program at the San Francisco Culinary Arts Academy, and the disconnect between her upbringing in a black vegetarian household and the school’s European fine dining focus felt vast. Robinson did not see herself represented — in the curriculum or the food she learned to prepare, amongst her fellow students or the staff. After she graduated, she often found herself thinking of ways to bridge the culture and diversity gap she experienced as an up-and-coming chef. “We just don’t cook barbecue and soul food. We have a whole diaspora of culinary delights that people enjoy throughout the w...

Hayden Hall , a new food hall at the corner of Wabash and Jackson — inside the famously red John Buck Company building in the Loop — opens on Monday with two bars, a coffee shop, and 10 restaurants (including one full-service option). The rumbling of CTA trains that pass in front of the windows upstairs gives the food hall a uniquely Chicago design, setting it apart from the numerous food halls across the city. DMK Restaurants’s David Morton and Michael Kornick worked with prolific designer Karen Herold to shape the 25,000-square-foot space. Herold and her Studio K have designed a few popular restaurants before. Customers will walk upstairs and veer toward the left to see a hallway with seven food stalls. They will also be greeted by a video screen showing estimated wait times for individual vendors. Each stall also had a touchscreen that runs software developed by Grubhub for the food hall. Customers will have to swipe a credit card to begin their order. They could also order via the...