Thanksgiving     

Closed Nov. 24th

 

Christmas           

Closed Dec. 24 through 26

Lookingglass Theatre, Frontera Grill and Silverguy Entertainment present:

Four week limited run, March 23 – April 22, 2012

Lookingglass Theatre in the Water Tower Water Works on Michigan at Pearson in Chicago

Delicious, sumptuous, magical cuisine is served nightly at La Cascabel, a boarding house at the end of a dusty road in 1940's Mexico. But the house chef is in love with a woman with no appetite. Will he find a way to her heart despite a bumbling maitre d', an acrobatic gardener and a tightrope-walking sous-chef? A feast of vibrant flavors from Rick Bayless’ famous Frontera Grill collides with heart-stopping circus acts and a charming love story.

Tickets are on sale online, by phone, (312) 337-0665 or at the Lookingglass Theatre box office. Each ticket includes hors d’oeuvres, a three course dinner, and non-alcoholic beverages.

 

“Taza” de Chocolate Oaxaqueno con Manchamanteles: A “cup” of layered frozen chocolate espumas (bittersweet, Oaxacan, turron, bubbly) with toasted plantain brioche served with a warm, fruity chocolate manchamanteles mole.

 

 

Set of food grade high density nylon spoons in 2 sizes, a 12-inch and 15-inch made by MIU France. They’re heat resistant to 430 degrees. The spoons are made from a nonporous material that doesn’t stain and are dishwasher safe. I use these spoons in place of wooden spoons because of all the chiles and tomato products I use in the test kitchen.

 

They’re available in two colors, the blue ones are $6.99 on Amazon and the red ones are $9.53.

Holiday season is upon us and it's time to start planning for Thanksgiving. In my family, there would be a mutiny if I didn't serve the traditional family favorites, however, I need to mix it up by adding new dishes to the dinner. To that end, I've picked out two dishes from Season 8 to add to this year's meal, the vegetable budin as a side dish and the tomatillo tart for dessert.

 

Speaking of holiday time, it’s also time to think about ordering your dinner provisions from local farmers in your area. If you live in the Midwest, you can check out the list I compiled of all the Frontera Farmer Foundation grantees and what they have available at this time of year. If you don’t live in the Midwest, check with your local farmers market. It’s also fun to think out of the box in terms of gift-giving. CSAs or U-Pick shares are a great way to help the farmers in your area while giving a unique gift.

 

 

The Frontera Farmer Foundation grant application is now available. Grants are awarded to family farmers for capital improvement projects. More information on the eligibility requirements are on the web site. All applications and accompanying paperwork are due by February 28, 2012. The grants will be announced on March 31, 2012.

 

We appreciate your help in getting the word out.

 

This month I tried to give you recipes that would compliment your upcoming holiday dinners. My Roasted Corn, Garlic and Poblano Guacamole is a great starter with the roasted corn giving it a unique texture and flavor. The Budin of Local Vegetables and Mexican Crema is not only delicious, but it goes well with any meal and can be prepared ahead, as can Chef Margarita’s Tomatillo Tart dessert. To me, that’s the deciding factor in the dishes I pick during the holidays.

 

 

Will Hausen and Lauren Walters are the co-founders of Two Degrees Food. Patterned on the Toms Shoes model of socially responsible consumerism, they created a company that sells all natural gluten free nutrition bars. Their give back is that for every bar they sell, they donate one nutrition pack to help feed the 200 million + chronic and severely malnourished children in the developing world. They have partnered with both Valid Nutrition and Partners in Health to produce and distribute the nutrition packs which require no water or refrigeration and have been proven successful in treating malnutrition, but up to now had only reached 3% of the children. Will and Lauren raised 1.3 million dollars through both public and private donations to launch their company in January, 2011. They made their first donation of 10,800 nutrition packs in February, 2011 to Neno, Malawi.

 

Originally the nutrition bars were sold in only 45 small retail stores and on college campuses using students as their sales reps. They're now available nationwide at Whole Foods Stores and also through their web site. Just recently they concluded a one month promotion with Whole Foods. Through that appeal, they were able to donate nearly 22,000 nutrition packs to children in Somalia.

 

The bars come in three flavors, chocolate peanut, cherry almond and apple pecan. Plus they also sell a virtual bar that you can send to friends and family for 99 cents each via Facebook.

 

 

Jan. 1 through 9

 

We reopen on Jan. 10th.