Tickets are still available for tomorrow night's Celebrity Chef Ball to Benefit Meals on Wheels Chicago. the annual benefit, held at Macy's on State Street, brings together 80 of the best chefs in the city in a culinary hoedown of epic proportions more ›

As Chuck kindly pointed out, I competed in Texas de Brazil and Meals on Wheels Chicago's Inaugural Caipirinha contest (and actually won!). My goal was to take what makes a caipirinha awesome and crank up those flavors - hence sugar infused with lime oils from the zest and the addition of the lime juice from those zested limes. Having turned in my drink recipe and instructions a week before the contest, I felt a little..err,..boring when I saw the fantastic ingredients (ginger, cilantro, blood orange juice, strawberries...) in front of the other contestants' stations and realized it was too late to improvise or change directions. After watching me bite my lip worriedly, Chuck reassured me to stick with my game plan and that simplicity was a good thing. So, without further ado, here is the L-Stop Caipirinha recipe: more ›

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The number of Meals on Wheels volunteer drivers is waning. This trend is another unfortunate side effect of rising gas prices, and is a nationwide problem for Meals on Wheels programs, which typically operate at the county level. Community Nutrition Network, which runs suburban Cook County's Meals on Wheels, hasn’t yet seen a substantial drop in service, since remaining volunteers are offering to drive extra shifts. more ›

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