This chef says, don't worry about the turkey; just put the fucking bird in the oven. more ›

The same dishes year after year can be comforting, or they can be so boring that you go through an entire case of wine. If you're feeling the need to break out of the Thanksgiving box, here's a few ways you can switch up the old favorites. more ›

Here are a few myth-busting facts about Turkey, your favorite Thanksgiving super-bird. more ›

Check out these Chicago restaurants running special deals for Turkey day. more ›

Hosting Thanksgiving can be stressful and intimidating. Now that we’re just over a week away from the big day, we wanted to share with you our tips for staying cool, calm, and collected. Sort of. more ›

Most of them are already spoken for - but you have one last chance to get a great local turkey. more ›

It's a grand tradition here at Chicagoist to share some great recipes with our readers. Sometimes, we call all the chefs we know and ask them for advice, and sometimes we raid our cookbook shelves. This year, we are keeping it in the family. Sometimes the foodie side of the staff (read: Anthony) forgets that most of the non-food-writers here at the Chicagoist home offices are just as good in the kitchen as than they are. One of the reasons we love this tradition so much is that it lets the rest of the staff have a moment at the stove, and we hope you enjoy their offerings as much as we do. more ›

Last Friday, we posted some great special meals for those who prefer to go out for Thanksgiving. Why stay home and dirty up your entire kitchen when you can make someone else do the cooking for you - and at a very reasonable price? Here are a few more special deals that caught our eye - some traditional, some... not so much. more ›

Sometimes, you don't want to cook a giant turkey (or tofurkey) and would prefer to have someone else do the work for you. This year, there are some great Thanksgiving options to peruse at restaurants all over Chicago! In fact, there are so many that we couldn't fit all of them into one post. Stay tuned Monday afternoon for even more events and offers - and make your reservations early! more ›

Doesn't that look like a tasty dessert? Yeah, not so much. This cake is made of turkey. Like one of those scary people who blend all their food into shakes and claim that it doesn't make any difference, this cake-maker took all the ingredients of thanksgiving dinner and created this mutated monstrosity. The layers are ground turkey, the topping is mini-marshmallows. The frosting is, yup, you guessed it - mashed potatoes. We can't decide if this is the greatest idea in history or the end of culinary civilization as we know it. more ›

During this season, we obsess over farmers markets, fresh produce and light healthy meals, but even in the middle of high summer we need a little comfort food. This meal is a light version of Thanksgiving dinner with all the flavors from the stuffing wrapped up in the broth, but without the carbs and the long sleep afterward. Turkey, in our opinion, is an under-used meat, and turkey breast is one of the cheapest animal proteins around. We like it better than chicken - it has more flavor. more ›

Walking into Just Turkey in Bronzeville, you are immediately reminded of that scene in “Forest Gump” when we first meet Gump’s army buddy Bubba. He has a serious shrimp fixation: more ›

This afternoon, President Obama took part in the annual pardoning of the White House turkey, bringing along daughters Sasha and Malia as he pardoned Courage the Turkey. Obama said, "Thanks to the intervention of Malia and Sasha, because I was planning to eat this sucker, Courage will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate." The lucky turkey will spend his life at Disneyland. No word from Obama elaborating his fears of a potential hostile robot takeover. more ›

Two years ago, we bought our first local turkey to serve for Thanksgiving. At the time, it was mostly an ethical decision - after reading far too much about turkeys that are too breast-heavy to walk and too stupid to mate on their own, we didn’t want any part of the turkey empire that is Butterball. We visited a farm near our parents' home in Iowa, picked out a turkey that seemed lively and drove home with it that very day. After brining and roasting, the turkey was presented to family and friends, and we realized the other reason to buy local - it tastes better. Much better. more ›

Say you're Nick Kokonas, partner in Alinea and Daddy Warbucks to Grant Achatz's Little Orphan Annie, and you want to do something slightly different with the Thanksgiving turkey. Do you brine it? Deep fry it? Grind it and turn it into a giant pot pie? more ›

One week from now we will be sitting at home, reflecting on the holiday while enjoying our favorite part of the holiday feast: the Thanksgiving Leftovers Sandwich. (Or at Best Buy purchasing ten plasma TVs, a washer and dryer, and thirty cameras for the Black Friday low, low price of $70.) But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Until then, expect grocery stores to be annoyingly crowded for the Thanksgiving preparation home stretch with anxious hosts fighting over the last cranberries, turkeys, and autumnal gourd centerpieces. Lucky for you, we composed our annual list of places-other-than-Jewel to purchase fresh turkeys - it’s not too late to place an order, so give ‘em a call. more ›

As Mayor Daley heads east to join Pat Ryan in Turkey today to lobby the European Olympic Committee on behalf of Chicago 2016, the pair will be joined by President-Elect Barack Obama. Sort of. Obama has recorded a message which will be played at the meeting supporting Chicago 2016's efforts. Daley is hoping that at next year's final presentation in Copenhagen, the real Obama will join the Chicago delegation. more ›

Now that Mayor Daley has addressed the Obama security issue and passed his 2009 budget, it's time for more important things: like a trip to Turkey to make a pitch for Chicago 2016. The Mayor's packing his bags as we speak because he'll leave tomorrow to attend a European Olympic Committee gathering and press the flesh to sway those members to vote for Chicago. Chicago 2016 Chairman Pat Ryan, who is already in Istanbul for the meeting, said, "It’s not critical that a government leader be at each of these meetings. But it’s important to be at some of them. We have very strong support from Mayor Daley and city government. It’s important that he be here to demonstrate that strong partnership." Ryan also added that the city's bid was aided by the Obama election: "The Obama election has been helpful in that it’s putting a very bright spotlight on Chicago. The acceptance speech in Grant Park, the multi-culturalism and passion of the people, the outstanding acceptance speech resonated around the world. The fact that President-elect Obama is managing the transition from Chicago continues to put a spotlight on Chicago." more ›

We finally saw the Heavy Metal in Baghdad documentary last night and walked away rather stunned. It follows the one and only metal band in Iraq, Acrassicauda, from just after Saddam's defeat through 2006 when they are seeking refugee status in Syria. (Currently the band is in Turkey.) more ›

In our experience, most people who eat at Costello's Sandwich and Sides get the same thing every time. It's their Costello's Match. Former Chicagoist editors Scott Smith and Erin Shea love the Heartland and Smokin' Turk, respectively. Our boyfriend's favorite is the Italian Grinder. For us, our Costello's Match is the Turkey Focaccia. Generally speaking, the Turkey Focaccia is a basic turkey sandwich — turkey, provolone, lettuce, tomato, vinaigrette. But what makes this sandwich... more ›

Last year, perhaps a little earlier, we gave you a quick run-down of where you could buy yourself a turkey and at what cost. We felt that it would be nice of us to do that again for you ... not to mention the fact that we haven't had time to get a turkey for ourselves. So, without further ado, a decidedly skewed to the north side turkey roundup. Dominick's located at 6009 N Broadway... more ›

In what's become an annual feature here at Chicagoist and a personal favorite, we canvassed the staff for some of their best recipes and put together a potluck of amazing proportions to fascinate your taste buds, amaze your family (even the ones entranced by the football games), and bring about peace on earth - or at least in your family - for a few hours through the miracle of tryptophan, simple starches, and sugar... more ›

OK, you got us here: Ricci & Company really isn’t a market per se. Unless you’re a squirrel and this small River North spot specializing in hand-roasted nuts has everything you need for your daily intake and then some. But just because Ricci doesn’t stock edibles from all the food groups — who can keep up with that ever-changing list anyways? — that doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of a mention here. First off, there’s... more ›

Red Hen Bread lacks highchairs, changing tables, a kid menu and a door big enough to comfortably squeeze a stroller through. We wouldn’t recommend going there with a large group and eating in, but with a long list of appetizing baked goods, a menu of innovative sandwiches, a friendly staff and an actual stroll-though window, this bread cafe should not be overlooked as a place to grab a bite with your kid. We recently tried... more ›

We hope you're reading this weekend's blotter on a laptop outside somewhere. A homeless woman is being questioned concerning a fatal fire in Wrigleyville Saturday morning. Around 7 a.m. a fire broke out in a three-story apartment building at 3553 N. Fremont in a stairwell, quickly spreading throughout the structure. Three unidentified men and one woman, 24-year-old Jennifer Carlson, were found dead. Witnesses saw an unkempt woman hovering around three smaller fires the previous night... more ›

Our appetite has been out of control lately, you'd think we were pregnant or something. But, no Chicagoist Jr's in the picture just yet. We blame the abnormal appetite on the hibernating we have doing because of the cold. Well, we are helping you join us this weekend as we bring you some delicious events. more ›

Alaska? Iceland? Actually, this is The Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentine Patagonia. And Lisa Lubin used to be there, but not any more. Let us back up to the beginning, though.. Lisa Lubin is a former TV producer at ABC7 who helped start the show "190 North." In her 9 years in Chicago she completely immersed herself in the city. She played in a summer tennis program, owned real estate, taught a TV production... more ›

The political season is over for most of the country. Hell, it's over for most of the media, and all the other people that sit around and watch it like "Monday Night Football." For the next month and a half, most of us will be thinking about eggnog, latkes, Wild Turkey with grandma, and how to pick up that cashier at Jewel with the intriguing accent. But if there's one group of people that are... more ›

Good news out of Fort Myers, Fla. this morning: the town’s annual Turkey Testicle Festival will be allowed to keep its name. And they just may have an Illinois town to thank for it. more ›

Admit it, you’re a little naughty, aren’t you? It’s OK. We’re fine with that. In fact, Chicagoist supports your right to be as nasty as you want to be. As long as you’re smart about it, and it doesn’t result in any deaths or break any laws. Well, at least not any of the important laws. more ›