It all first started when she started seeing apples from New Zealand in her local supermarket. “It didn’t make sense. We live in an apple-growing region,” said Alisa Smith (pictured above), half of the writing team of “Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally” at a lecture/book signing Monday night at Fox & Obel. Add to that a spur-of-the-moment meal they had to whip up for friends at their wilderness cabin in British Columbia with only the food they could forage, and the light bulb started flashing for Smith and her partner James MacKinnon. “It was the most delicious meal and was the first time we knew everything about the food on our plate,” she recalled. more ›

The University of Chicago’s Uncommon Application may be about to get a little more common, though it would likely keep its trademark quirky essay questions. In an effort to “increase and diversify” its pool of applicants, U of C may begin using the Common Application that allows a potential undergrad to apply to many schools at once, but fill out only one application. U of C President Robert Zimmer supports the change in an effort... more ›

Have you ever lost a cherished toy and been devestated by its disappeanance? Chicagoist has never had this happen personally but remembers our little brother's lost Ewok, who went missing at the McDonald's in the DeKalb Oasis. The Ewok was never seen again. more ›