Some of us have been blessed with Norman Rockwell-esque families, when holiday meals have days and days of preparation carefully presented on Christmas Day alongside thoughtfully planned gifts for each dinner attendee. However, for many of us, we are the furthest from this picturesque family, and often face the panicked search for a last minute gift. more ›

We grew up eating Korean barbecue - bulgogi and kalbi. While bulgogi is made with marinated thin slices of beef, kalbi is made with beef short ribs and, in our humble opinion, should only be prepared on the grill. And since we had a sunny day on Sunday and our patio faces South... we decided to take advantage of the warmth by firing up the grill and trying the Trader Joe's version of kalbi - Korean Style Beef Short Ribs. more ›

"Whether or not this new kid will go on to become the prom king or get his head stuck in a toilet is unclear," we wrote when Sunflower market first opened, "but we certainly will come back for more." But we, and others, didn't come back for enough. Minneapolis-based Supervalu will close all five Sunflower locations (there are three in Ohio, one in Indianapolis and the Chicago location.) Supervalu had at one point hoped to open 50 Sunflower stores. The five current stores employed a total of 140 people. A company spokeswoman said only that the stores did not meet the company's goals. more ›

Some days, we just don't feel like cooking and can't be bothered to start the car. That's when you realize that you've underestimated frozen food. Ahh, frozen food. The bachelor's friend. The easy girl at your favorite bar. Let's enjoy her, shall we? Our bar today is Trader Joe's. Let's see what he has to offer. more ›

It's easy to think of beer as a man's drink; after all, we do live in a patriarchal society. But with more variety in selection these days, women are increasingly drawn to the allure of malted beverages. Sure, we still find too many women (and men) watching their waistlines with bottles of diet beer in their hands. We just find it sinful. Beer is meant to be enjoyed. Diet beer doesn't taste great, nor is... more ›

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried... more ›

The National Restaurant Association trade show (we'll just call them the "good NRA") is still in full swing through tomorrow at McCormick Place. We went this weekend, took in some of the exhibits, marveled still at the sheer enormity of McCormick Place, and got enough Cholula samples to last us through the summer, or at least the next bloody mary, and our clothes reek of fried food. more ›

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... more ›

Milwaukee-based Roundy's Supermarkets Inc., owners of the Copps, Rainbow Foods, and Pick 'N Save grocery chains, is expanding their area presence in a big way. A company press release announced yesterday that Roundy's plans on opening an 80,000 square-foot store on the site of the New City YMCA. This follows speculation that Roundy's is one of the companies with an eye on fouling the form-follows-function feng shui of the soon-to-be-shuttered Carson Pirie Scott building. more ›

Our Saturday night was spent under a mass of clouds at the Windy City Wine Festival, brushing up on varietals with which we were unfamiliar. One of the exhibitor booths was promoting a limited edition beer, "Frederick Miller Classic Chocolate Lager." The surname should have been a dead giveaway that this beer was brewed in all sorts of wrong. But, we had to taste it anyway; certainly we weren't surprised to find that this shite tasted like Miller High Life with a melted Hershey bar added to the mix. Turned out, that's what it was; another cynical offering from Miller Brewing. It reminded us of how much we love our favorite stout. more ›

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly. more ›

Yesterday Chicagoist checked out the new kid on the organic grocery store block, Sunflower Markets. Located at 1910 N. Clybourn Avenue and festooned in orange and yellow, Sunflower Markets is looking to give everyone who cries at the Whole Foods checkout counter, or who finds the produce selection at Trader Joe's a little lacking, an alternative shopping experience. As we walked around the brightly lit, easily manageable aisles we found that some items (organic orange juice, eggs, young chickens) were, in fact, less pricey than at the aforementioned competition. Though some items like our beloved Amy's cheese enchiladas seemed to be selling at the same price. Because this was a "sneak peek" we helped ourselves to the myriad samples of cheese, wine, pizza (served to us by girls in bright green vinyl dresses), potato salad (especially tasty) and delectable chocolate peanut butter desserts.
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