PARTY CRASHER
Ode to Glencoe’s Fred Karger, who has lived life to the fullest, crashing as many parties as he could along the way. A tellall memoir about his misadventures will be released next year. pg8
MATERIAL PURSUITS
From burl wood frames to artisanal jewelry, start your weekend with our curated list of luxury "must-haves" pg29
SUNDAY BREAKFAST
Meet Mike Pasquesi, whose Fraser firs are flying out of his Lake Bluff garden center this holiday season pg30
Read about Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan and partner Chloé Mendel giving an iconic Chicago sign new life at their Highland Park cafe in this weekend's North Shore Money pg12
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One of the most exciting nights of Fred Karger’s life began—as few in the history of time ever have (or will)—with a fake Oscar statuette.
The ersatz Academy Award had watched Fred from its perch on the bookshelf above his desk for over a decade. He’d purchased it, on a whim, from a shop in West L.A., where an enterpris ing salesman told him it was forged in the same Rockford factory responsible for making the real trophies. Fred being Fred, he figured it might come in handy someday.
“Someday” turned out to be the night of the 2006 Academy Awards—or, more specifically, the night of the 2006 Vanity Fair Oscar party.
By then, Fred had managed to crash the Acad emy Awards ceremony itself not once, not twice, but three times. But he’d never tried his hand at the Vanity Fair party. Held annually at Morton’s, and hosted by the magazine’s editor Graydon Carter, the shindig had become the post-show celebration. It was also infamously difficult to get into, with stringent security and a meticulously put-together guest list.
So how, exactly, did Fred manage to get inside that fateful evening in 2006?
Suffice to say, it involved a little bit of luck, a lot of charm, and a timely impersonation of an Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor—plus, that fake statuette.
His exploits paid off. By the end of the night, Fred had rubbed elbows with everyone from Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall to Jon Stewart to Jake Gyllenhall. (He also almost dropped his
bliss—as if the show Leave It to Beaver came to life in the greater Chicago area. His father ran a stock brokerage firm. His older brother, Dick, was the quarterback of the New Trier football team. His mother was a stay-at-home mom, with weekly canasta games and a commitment to charity work. For Fred, there was touch football and bike rides along the lake, trips to the soda fountain and local record shop. Every night, the four Kargers would have dinner together.
As he got older, though, Fred sometimes felt like he was simply playing the part of a normal kid, in a normal family, in a normal town. By the sixth grade, he’d realized he was gay—if not in those exact terms, then in the more instinctual way children of a certain age can come to know these things. A closeted teen, Fred grew ac
University of Denver, he and his friend posed as the nephews of RCA president Robert Sarnoff in order to get tickets to the Academy Awards (which ran on NBC, then-owned by RCA). All he had to do was type up a note on an NBC executive’s official letterhead—which he’d fortu itously swiped after a taping of The Tonight Show the previous summer—instructing the press office to give “Mr. Sarnoff’s nephews” badges for the ceremony.
Not content to watch the show from his seat, Fred leveraged his all-access pass to get to the press room, where award-winners took questions from assembled journalists. At the end of the ceremony, he followed the celebrities gathered nearby to a set of risers on stage. From there, he would witness one of the greatest moments in Oscar history—Charlie Chaplin returning from self-imposed exile to receive the honorary Academy Award.
In a twist of North Shore-related fate, Fred paired off with none other than New Trier alumnus (and Academy Award-nominated actress) Ann-Margret in the line forming to shake the silent film star’s hand.
After college, Fred ended up moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting, under the tutelage of another North Shore native, Allan Carr (who is most famous for co-producing Grease). Meanwhile, he continued his misadventures in party-crashing. Over the next few years, Fred charmed his way into Frank Sinatra’s private penthouse party and Elvis Presley’s Las Vegas dressing room—not to mention, the 1973 and 1974 Oscars.
Although Fred found some suc cess as an actor, winning a recurring role in a never-produced spin-off of the popular sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter, his real calling turned out
adversaries would’ve preferred to keep secret.
All this time, of course, Fred was keeping a big secret of his own. In fact, it wasn’t until he retired in the early aughts that he finally came out pub licly. But he came out swinging, so to speak, using his experience in politics to become a formidable activist for LGBTQ rights. His impactful work rallying against Prop 8 in California, and expos ing the Mormon Church’s anti-gay crusades, garnered him coverage everywhere from The New York Times to Mother Jones
Then, in 2010, Fred decided to do something quintessentially, for lack of a better word, Fred: He decided to run as an openly gay, Jewish Re publican in the 2012 presidential election.
Crazy? Yes, definitely. But for Fred it also represented the ultimate crash—a strangely fitting culmination of his storied political career, newfound activism, and preternatural ability to infiltrate the most exclusive spaces.
Although Fred came short of his goal—to appear in a televised presidential debate—he still managed to get his name on the ballot in six states, as well as to connect with nearly 100 LGBTQ student groups across the country (including one at New Trier).
While Fred’s political ambitions have waned in the intervening years, his appetite for crashing has only increased. In the past decade alone, Fred—who now has the added benefit of being a rather distinguished-looking older gentleman, es pecially in a well-fitting suit and tie—has crashed several White House Correspondents’ Dinners, two Met Galas, and countless other high-profile events.
Along the way, he temporarily became a member of Kim Kardashian’s entourage, narrowly avoided the suspicions of Vogue editor Anna
Experiences like this—and many, many more—have given Fred, a North Shore native, the undisputed title of “world’s greatest party crasher.”
Now in his 70s, he’s decided it’s high time to share his adventures in a wry, rollicking, and surprisingly moving memoir, aptly titled World’s Greatest Crasher. It will be available to purchase in 2023. (Full disclosure: I worked with Fred on the book.)
Fred’s story begins in Glencoe, where his family epitomized a sort of postwar American
customed to pretending to be someone else. This circumstantial knack for deception lent itself well to his early crashes, long summer nights when he would drive down to the city with a few friends to sneak into glitzy events at the Palmer House or Conrad Hilton. Ironically, Fred rarely felt more like himself than when he was crashing.
Once he left home, Fred’s crashes became riskier.
In 1972, when he was a student at the
to be politics. Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, Fred worked for the Dolphin Group, a top consult ing firm that pioneered a number of strategic techniques political operatives deploy to this day. He proved particularly skilled at opposi tion research—unearthing the sort of details his
Wintour, and used the long, shimmering train of Blake Lively’s ball gown as a Trojan Horse to get into one of the Met Gala’s hottest afterparties.
Despite his many accomplishments, Fred isn’t content to rest on his laurels. He may’ve checked off every item on his bucket list (some of them twice). But for him, there’s always another party, another celebration, another challenge—the thrill of the chase and the satisfaction of a crash well done.
Needless to say, he should have plenty of material for a sequel.
You can read the first chapter of World’s Greatest Crasher and learn more about Fred at fredkarger. com/worlds-greatest-crasher/.
EIGHT NIGHTS of HANUKKAH
JCC Chicago is thrilled to announce the return of the “8 Nights of Hanukkah” celebration with free in-person and virtual programming held in Chicago and on the North Shore from December 18 to 25.
In its third year celebrating all eight nights, the J welcomes children, families, teens, and adults to nightly in-person or virtual programming across the suburbs and city.
The 2022 lineup includes:
1st Night 1st Light at Gallagher Way | Sunday, December 18, 3-6pm
Kick off Hanukkah with a FREE celebration in partnership with Gallagher Way, 3635 N. Clark Street, in Chicago. Families are invited to ignite the first candle and enjoy live music, entertainers, Hanukkah games, giveaways, and more! Teens and adults in their 20s/30s can get FREE admission into Gallagher Way’s Winterland, inside Wrigley Field, to ice skate and get a complimentary refreshment on the J! All are welcome.
2nd Night, 2nd Light: Virtual Hanukkah Sing-Along | Mon day, December 19, 5:30-6pm
Light the menorah and sing along with JCC Chicago Early Childhood. All are welcome to join the JCC for a FREE virtual song session with Ms. Amy and light the candles to celebrate the second night of Hanukkah. Grab your menorahs, candles and get ready to SING!
3rd Night, 3rd Light with Apachi Day Camp | Tuesday, December 20, Various Times
JCC Chicago’s Apachi Day Camp will host FREE in-person, family-friendly events featuring an ice cream social, a hot cocoa bar, live music, and dreidel competitions at three locations in the suburbs (Northbrook, Lake Zurich, and Evanston). Find a location nearest you and learn more at jccchicago.org/8nights
4th Night, 4th Light: Camp Chi Hanukkah Hangtime | Wednesday, December 21, 5:30-7pm
JCC Chicago’s overnight camp in the Wisconsin Dells, Camp Chi, is hosting an in-person Hanukkah bonfire party with cookie decorating, dreidel competitions, and s’mores at Bernard Weinger JCC, 300 Revere Drive, in Northbrook. Plus, starting November 24, Camp Chi will also be hosting a toy drive for families in need, in partnership with Toys for Tots Chicago. Toy donations can be dropped off at Bernard Weinger JCC and ‘Z’ Frank Apachi Day Camp in Northbrook, Lake County JCC in Lake Zurich, or Florence G. Heller JCC in Lakeview.
5th Night, 5th Light: Latkes, Libations & Lo-Mein | Thurs day, December 22, 6-8pm
Young professionals in their 20s/30s can nosh their hearts out with latkes and libations at Bernard Weinger JCC in North brook. Listen to live music, play games, and eat some tasty Chinese food. $5 per person; in partnership with JUF’s Young Leadership Division.
6th Night, 6th Light: Dreidel Drop-in | Friday, December 23, 4-6pm
Drop in for the ultimate dreidel competition at Bernard Weinger JCC in Northbrook. All are welcome to celebrate the sixth night of Hanukkah for FREE with arcade and lawn games, snacks, cookie decorating, and arts & crafts.
7th Night, 7th Light: Stream Film: “Dreaming of A Jewish Christmas” | Saturday, December 24
JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival presents the film “Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas,” an offbeat, irreverent musical documen tary that tells the story of a group of Jewish songwriters, who wrote the soundtrack to Christianity’s most musical holiday. FREE for the whole family to enjoy.
8th Night, 8th Light: A Story By Candlelight | Sunday, December 25, 5:45-6:45pm
Celebrate the last night of Hanukkah with JCC Chicago! Join the organization’s very own Matthew Charnay, Manager of Family Engagement, to listen to a Hanukkah story online from the comfort of your home. FREE; in partnership with PJ Library.
For more information on JCC Chicago’s “8 Nights of Hanukkah” celebration, contact Dakota Karson,dkarson@jccchicago.org or call 847-287-2047. Learn more about these amazing programs and how to register at jccchicago.org/8nights.
LAUGH OUT LOUD
The storied improv sketch group, Practical Theater Company, brings a new show to Evanston.
The Practical Theater Company—an improvisational sketch comedy troupe that launched the careers of Julia Louis Dreyfus and Saturday Night Live veterans Brad Hall, Paul Barrosse, and Gary Kroeger—is back in the Chicago area to present a hilarious sketch comedy show at Studio5 in Evanston from December 29 to 31 and January 4 to 7.
The Practical Theatre Company was originally founded in 1979 by Barrosse, Hall, and a group of fellow North western University students with a goal of performing improvisational comedy and new plays. After leaving Northwestern, the company produced a string of success ful comedy shows in Chicago throughout the 1980s, and several of its members catapulted to fame when they were hired by Saturday Night Live for the 1982 season.
After a two-decade hiatus, The Practical Theatre Company reunited in 2010 when Barrosse, Victoria Zielinski, and musician Steve Rashid began doing shows together in Los Angeles and Chicago. The trio later joined with fellow Northwestern alum, Dana Olsen, to perform a series of holiday comedy shows at Studio5. Olsen is a screenwriter best known for writing The ’Burbs, and George of the Jungle
This year’s show, entitled “Vic & Paul & Dana’s
Post-Pandemic Revue,” will star Barrosse, Zielinski, and Olsen.
“We were ready to do this show last holiday season at Studio5,” said Barrosse. “But when Omicron hit, things weren’t so post-pandemic anymore and we had to cancel the show. We can’t wait to get back in front of an audience and share some laughs after all the madness everyone’s been through.”
A mix of comedy sketches and original songs, this year’s revue will tackle everything from marriage to cancel culture, conspiracy theories, Greek gods, William Shakespeare, whoopie cushions and more.
The music will be performed by Rashid, co-artistic di rector of Studio5, along with Ronny Crawford on drums, Jim Cox on bass and Don Stiernberg on guitar.
Alcoholic beverages are available for purchase at all shows.
Shows begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 for general seating or $45 for cabaret seating. Tickets for the New Year’s Eve show are $45 for general seatingor $60 for cabaret seating. Studio 5 is located at 1934 Dempster Street in Evanston. For more information, call 847-328-6683 or visit studio5. dance.
and approved. When it comes to soil health, vineyard practices include sheep grazing, cover crops, improving soil microbiology, and the elimination of herbicides. For integrated pest management, the winery uses owl and blue bird boxes, bio fungicides, pheromone disrup tion, and the release of beneficial insects.
Sustainability has always been a core focus at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Vineyard Director Kirk Grace has led the efforts since he joined the winery in 2006.
enhance fruit quality and bring more complex ity and length to our wines while preserving and protecting the land for the future.”
The FAY and S.L.V. estate vineyards are among the most historic in Napa Valley.
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars has just com pleted the first year of a three-year organic certification for the historic FAY and S.L.V. estate vineyards, which encompass 114 acres.
“Our impact on the environment doesn’t stop at the fence line,” says Kirk Grace, Vine yard Director at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. “What we do in our vineyards has impact downstream. We have to be good neighbors and good stewards of the land and we want to do the right thing for our grapes, our workers,
our consumers, and the planet.”
The winery is on track to be certified organic in 2024. FAY and S.L.V. became certified transitional by the California Certi fied Organic Farmers (CCOF) last month. Its Danika Ranch in the Oak Knoll District will also be certified organic in 2024.
To achieve organic certification, the focus in the vineyards is on soil health and inte grated pest management while ensuring that every material used in the vineyard is recorded
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars first received “Napa Green Winery” and “Napa Green Land” certification in 2010. All three estate vineyards (FAY, S.L.V. and Danika Ranch) were recertified for Napa Green in 2016. The winery was recertified Napa Green in 2020 and this certification continues today. The winery is also proud to hold Fish Friendly Farming (FFF) certification for FAY, S.L.V. and Danika Ranch estate vineyards. All of the estate vineyards are also certified by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA).
The team at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars believes that becoming certified organic will improve fruit quality, ultimately leading to greater elegance and enhanced fruit character istics in the wines.
“We are excited to be on the path to organic certification,” said Winemaker Marcus Notaro. “My team and I work hard every day to make the highest quality wines possible for our fans to enjoy. It’s a win for everyone that we can
The FAY vineyard is where the story of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars began. Established by pioneering grape grower Nathan Fay in 1961, it was the first planting of Cabernet Sauvignon in what is now the Stags Leap District. The 66-acre vineyard is planted primarily to Cabernet Sauvignon with 1.5 acres of Cabernet Franc. In November 2021, the winery purchased the Turnbull Vineyard, a 12-acre vineyard immediately adjacent to FAY that is also planted to Cabernet Sauvignon.
S.L.V., also known as Stag’s Leap Vine yards, is the winery’s first vineyard. Planted in 1970, this vineyard achieved international fame when three-year-old vines from the 1973 harvest produced a wine that triumphed over some of France’s greatest Bordeaux in a blind tasting among French wine experts in Paris.
The tasting, known today as the 1976 “Judg ment of Paris,” fundamentally transformed how California wines were viewed worldwide and the stunning victory launched Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars into the ranks of the world’s most noteworthy Cabernet Sauvignon produc ers. S.L.V. encompasses roughly 35 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1.5 acres of Cabernet Franc.
For more information, visit stagsleap.com.
Let There Be
BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKENDMost people light up a tree over the holidays. Billy Corgan and his partner, Chloé Mendel, are lighting up a sign. Last May, Mendel acquired the famous Chop Suey neon sign that hung for decades outside the Orange Garden restaurant on Irving Park Road in Chicago. Corgan, the Smashing Pumpkins front man, had always admired the sign so Mendel gifted it to him as a birthday present.
After having the sign restored, a process that involved replac ing neon bulbs and electrical wiring, Highland Park residents Corgan and Mendel will celebrate the sign’s installation at their Highland Park tea house, Madame ZuZu’s, on December 17.
And they’re throwing a party to mark the occasion.
It’s required a little work to get Chop Suey back to its original condition, but the couple is happy with the results.
“There are places that restore neon signs because people still
make neon signs for their stores. We worked with a local com pany in Highwood—it was important to work with a local small business, but the sign hasn't been lit in a long time,” Mendel says. “It's been broken, so we had to replace all of the neon and restore the original color. It looks amazing now.”
The restoration was only the half of it. While that took just a few weeks, the process of installing the sign in the tea shop and making sure they have the right electrical in place added to the challenge. Plus, the thing is a beast.
“I believe it's about 12 or 13 feet long so moving the sign was actually the hardest part,” she says. “We had to get lifts and cranes to move it, and we have to move it twice. It's coming back now because we moved it off site to be fully restored.”
“The internals are iron and the face of it is porcelain, so it's a lot heavier than you think it would be,” Corgan adds.
“I think the idea was and is always to create an ambiance and an atmosphere which is sort of lost. It's obviously an idealized version of what it would have felt like, say back in the 1930s,” Corgan says. “I'm a person who will scroll through endless pages on the internet looking at old designs, whether it's department stores or diners, stuff like that. It always strikes me, particularly in the deco age, that there was a heightened sense that aesthetics was very important to the customer experience.”
Corgan says he often laments that in the modern world aesthet ics have gone by the wayside and that we've fallen into a general vibe of what a coffee/tea house is supposed to look and feel like.
“It's very important for us that when you come into ZuZu’s
it's a completely different atmosphere than anywhere else and that atmosphere hopefully will heighten your experience of the food and drink and the gypsy music playing,” he says. “We've got a lot of customer feedback to that regard, so the sign was part of thinking, ‘Well, this would be a nice thing to add’, especially because I'd always fawned over this thing.”
Corgan and Mendel were pleasantly sur prised by how widespread the admiration for the sign is in Chicago. They heard from friends near and far who shared their appreciation for Chop Suey before it was removed from the restaurant.
“We've received so many selfies of people with the sign since they found out we bought it,” Mendel says. “Even people we know from other cities have made pilgrimages to the sign. I didn’t know how important it was when I bought it because I'm not from here.”
To celebrate Chop Suey’s restoration and installation, the ZuZu’s owners are hosting a lighting ceremony at the tearoom on Decem ber 17. They’ve partnered with Chicago brewer Hop Butcher For The World, who’s creating a special beer made with ZuZu’s Tropical Spice Clementine Tea, called Winter Garden.
It’s the second collaboration between the two businesses, the first being a beer produced last year to mark the 30th Anniversary of the release of the Smashing Pumpkins’ album, Gish
“They're incredible, they're awesome people, and their beer is great. They're very Chicago,
and they have an affinity for the sign, too,” Mendel says. “When I bought it, they wrote to me immediately and wanted to know who's restoring it and everything about it.”
Jeremiah Zimmer, owner and co-founder of Hop Butcher For The World, says the partnership with Mendel and Corgan has been somewhat serendipitous. Zimmer has been a Smashing Pumpkins fan for decades, and it all started when Hop Butcher sent a box of beer on a whim to ZuZu’s with a note declaring Hop Butcher staff’s admiration for the band. A few sips of beer and a few phone calls later, a collaboration was born.
“They have so much stuff going on and they’re ultra-creative, so even though our cre ative output is different, I think there's some commonalities there that make us appreciate each other a little bit more than just nice peo ple working together,” Zimmer says. “They've been wonderful. The fact that we're going to be able to use their tea in our beer and that beer is going to be named for this party is huge.”
Hop Butcher was and is in a perfect posi tion to partner with ZuZu’s given its uncon ventional approach to brewing. The brewery releases new beers on a weekly basis.
“Our schtick as a brewery is we don't re ally operate like most other breweries where they have flagship beers that are available all the time or even seasonals that they rotate throughout the year,” Zimmer says. “We release two beers a week, sometimes three or four, but usually two different beers a week.”
Zimmer says the buzz created by their new releases, especially among serious beer drink ers, becomes a sort of chase every week, so if someone is a Hop Butcher fan, they're going to know when and where to find the new beers.
“It allows us to keep things fresh and to scratch the creative itch of using all the differ ent ingredients that we want to use,” he says. “It gives anyone who drinks our beers the op portunity to learn something about hops and what we expect the flavors or aromas to be.”
For Corgan, one of the highlights of now owning the Chop Suey sign has been getting to know the family that launched the original Orange Garden restaurant. The effort to re store the sign has led to personal connections.
“We've been in contact with the family that originally owned the restaurant, and many of the family members have come in to see the sign and share stories with us about the restau rant and working in the restaurant,” Corgan says. “It's been really cool to get to know the family. It's just nice to see because it means so much to them that somebody cares about their family's legacy.”
The lighting party for the Chop Suey sign will take place at Madame ZuZu’s, 1876 1st Street, in Highland Park, at 6:30 p.m. on December 17. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at madam ezuzus.com. Entry to the lighting ceremony, a can of ZuZu’s Winter Garden Ale, and festive bites are included with each ticket purchased.
It always strikes me, particularly in the deco age, that there was a heightened sense that aesthetics was very important to the customer experience.
A HYPOCHONDRIAC’S GUIDE TO RARE DISEASES
BY JANE STERN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKENDI recently made a wrong turn out of the parking lot of the Danbury Fair Mall, where I’d indulged in a bag of Auntie Anne’s pretzel nuggets and a pair of cheap earrings at Claire’s. Bemoaning my love for this soulless crap—and not paying atten tion to my route—I found myself at the entrance to NORD, the National Organi zation for Rare Disorders.
I’m a hypochondriac. I’ve also been a state-licensed EMT for 19 years. EMTs are taught not to diagnose, but in my case these are wasted words. I keep my “findings” to myself, but my vast body of knowledge, gleaned from TV shows like House and the national tabloids, is far reaching.
NORD was founded in 1983. It exists for people whose doctors say, “I don’t know what it is, and I don’t know how to treat it.”
It’s a serious organization for people lost in the uncharted waters of pharmaceuticals and clueless MDs. There are some 7,000 diseases that the medical establishment has officially deemed “rare,” and they affect 30 million people.
If you are the only person on the planet with prune-belly syndrome (real) or stiffperson syndrome (real), you may have to wait a long time for Big Pharma to get around to you. This is where NORD steps in, advocating for your care on a national level.
On NORD’s website, rarediseases.org , you can read about their heroic mission; you can add your name to their roster; you can become a donor or an advocate; or you can, as I did, jump to the long list of baffling medical conditions and stand in awe at all the strange things a human body is capable of doing to itself. Here’s a very short sample of the diseases they list:
• Jumping Frenchmen of Maine
• Blue Ribbon Bleb Nervous Syndrome
• Cat’s Cry Syndrome
• Precocious Puberty Syndrome
• Geographic Tongue
• Maple Syrup Urine Disease
• Blue Diaper Syndrome
• Cat Eye Syndrome
• Hairy Tongue
• Floating Harbor Syndrome
If, after reading through this long list,
you can’t find your problem, you’ll be directed to SWAN, a sister organization whose acronym stands for Syndromes Without a Name. I must admit, I find this concept very appealing, in a lost and exis tential way—it’s like the French Foreign Legion.
So you don’t think I’m a heartless voyeur,
let me share with you my brush with rare diseases. Many years ago, asleep in bed, I thought an atomic bomb had gone off in my head. It shook me so badly that I ran to my doctor’s office as soon as they opened. My doctor diagnosed it, cor rectly, as exploding-head disease, a benign and fairly common condition that no one knows anything about—except that one’s head does not really explode. It just feels like it has.
Then there was my brave fight with Be shams disease. Whenever I had my blood pressure taken, the cuff really hurt as the doctor inflated it. It wasn’t just a tender pain—it hurt so much that I often ripped the cuff straight off my arm.
After going through a series of exhaus tive medical tests that showed there was absolutely nothing wrong with me, my doctor said he had researched it, and I had Beshams: a very rare, quite uncomfortable yet not-life-threatening condition.
When I got home, the first thing I did was go online and order a silver-link medical alert bracelet with my “condition” engraved on it. Then I ordered an aroundthe-neck dog-tag version. Then I got a wallet ID card stating that I suffered from this debilitating ailment.
I was proud of my self-care—until time passed and I went for my yearly physical. The blood pressure cuff no longer hurt. I told my doctor about this miracle, and he told me that there was nothing wrong with me in the first place. He’d made up Beshams in the same way that doctors used to give sugar pills as a placebo. He knew I wouldn’t leave it alone until I had a diagnosis with a name.
I was both relieved and slightly angry. Flaunting my medical bracelet had made me feel special, and now I was merely another dupe of the medical bureaucracy. Looking at the NORD site, I’m over whelmed with gratitude that I am not sick. I’m also thankful that I didn’t try to fit “Jumping Frenchmen of Maine Disease” on my bracelet—which I still have, if you’re curious. I wear it from time to time when I’m feeling down.
BETH ALBERTS beth.alberts@compass.com 773.991.2560
REBECCA GILBERG rebecca.gilberg@compass.com 312.401.3317
ELLEN CHUKERMAN ellen.chukerman@compass.com 847.507.5086
LISSA BULIS lissa.bulis@compass.com 781.603.3306
MADA HITCHMOUGH mada.hitchmough@compass.com 847.732.2970 SCAN TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE shoregrouphomes.com
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BRITISH PORK PIE
BY MONICA KASS ROGERS THE NORTH SHORE WEEKENDAmericans love their apple pie, but in Brit ain, pork pies rule the pastry roost. Brits spend more than £165 million on pork pies every year, according to statistics from the Kantar Worldpanel—more than they shell out for any other pie variety there. And among pork pies, the Melton Mowbray variety is king.
Melton Mowbray, a town in rural Leices tershire, England, calls itself Britain’s “Rural Capital of Food” for the pork pies and Stilton cheese, both having been granted protected designation of origin (PDO) status by the European Commission. That distinction means anyone outside the 10-mile radius surround ing the town, and anyone using cured meat in the recipe, can’t officially call their pork pie a Melton Mowbray.
With that in mind, our Melton Mowbray-
style pie uses hand-minced, uncured pork like the original, mixed with salt, pepper, sage, and a squirt of anchovy paste. Tucked into a tradi tional hot water crust with rich stock poured in through the vent hole to seal the meat, it’s a filling, portable feast. That portability made the pie a favorite bring-along on foxhunts as far back as the late 1700s. But the flavor of the pie took it nationwide.
To make it here, I adapted the recipe from Linda Collister’s wonderful, The Great British
METHOD
MAKE THE JELLIED STOCK
• Place all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed stock pot over medium heat. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to a simmer. Skim off and discard foam. Partially cover pot and simmer for five hours. Remove from heat and strain stock through a colander into a fresh pot, discarding solids from the colander. Cool stock. Skim off and discard any fat that has collected on the surface. To clarify, separate three eggs, saving the yolks to brush on the pastry crust. (Cover and refrigerate yolks.)
• Whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Stir egg whites into the pot of cooled stock. Heat over medium heat until stock begins to boil. The whites will float to the top of the stock, pulling soup impurities with them; stop stirring and boil the stock until has reduced to about 3 cups of liquid. Re move and discard the eggwhite raft. Pour stock through fine mesh strainer. Season finished stock with salt. Refrigerate.
Book of Baking, with American measurements in mind (i.e., a “rasher” of bacon is what we know as a “slice.”) My boys, who love anything that looks like it came out of The Wind in The Willows picnic hamper, give the result a big thumbs up. While traditionally eaten cold or room temperature, we like the pie warmed a bit with a pile of cornichons and strong mustard on the side. Note: You will want to make the jellied stock the day before you bake the pies.
Makes six, 3 ½-inch pies.
shortening. Cut parchment paper strips and circles and press into the sides and bottoms of the crocks. Cut 3 circles of the dough about two inches larger than the crocks; ease and fit dough into the first three crocks, pressing firmly to mould the dough to the sides of each crock, leav ing no air pockets. Leave about ½ inch of dough sticking up above the edges of the crocks. Repeat with the second half of the dough and remaining three crocks.
• Preheat oven to 400F. Fill each pastrylined crock with the meat mixture. Press together and then roll out remaining dough. Cut pastry “lids” for each crock, making each circle about 1 inch larger than the circumference of the crock. Cut a ½ inch circle in the center of the top of each pastry. Place each pastry lid over each crock. Tuck and fold the edge of each pas try lid over the bottom pastry extensions, pinching and tucking to seal. Decoratively flute the edge of each pastry, pressing with thumb and forefingers.
•
INGREDIENTS
FOR
•
large carrot
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 peppercorns
• 8 cups water (or enough to cover the bones and veg)
• Salt to taste
• 3 large eggs (you will use the whites for clarifying the stock; save and refrigerate the yolks for the pastry wash)
FOR THE FILLING
• 2 ¼ pounds boneless pork shoul der, finely minced to make 4 cups packed
• 3 slices of uncured bacon, finely
chopped to make 1 cup
• 2 Tbsp. dried sage leaves, finely crumbled
• 1 tsp. anchovy paste
• ½ a nutmeg, finely grated
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp freshly cracked pepper
FOR THE HOT-WATER PASTRY CRUST
• 4 ½ cups flour, sifted
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp. solid white rendered bacon fat
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 6 ounces milk
• 4 ½ ounces water
• 3 egg yolks (saved from clarifying the stock) to brush on the pastry
MAKE THE FILLING
• On a clean work surface using a very sharp knife, mince pork shoulder into tiny pieces. Finely mince uncured bacon. In a large bowl, mix meat with crumbled sage leaves, anchovy paste, salt and pepper. Cover lightly with a towel and let rest while you make the crust.
MAKE THE HOT-WATER PASTRY
• In a large cooking pot over medium-low heat, add butter, solid rendered bacon fat, milk and water. Heat gently until the fat has melted, without allowing the mixture to boil. Place sifted flour mixed with salt in a large bowl and create a well in the middle. Using a wooden spoon, stir the warm liquid into the flour until the mass comes together into a soft dough ball, knead slightly. Cut dough in half and roll half of the dough out to about 1/8 to ¼-inch thickness.
• Coat the insides of six, 8-ounce straightsided baking crocks with vegetable
• Cut six, 6 x 2-inch strips of aluminum foil. Wrap strips around your forefinger to cre ate little metal tubes. Poke each tube into the hole in the top of each pastry to create a vent. Place filled crocks on a baking sheet. Beat egg yolks and coat the top of each pie with egg yolk. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and continue baking for 45 to 50 minutes until liquid is bubbling through the vents and crusts are a deep golden brown. Remove from oven. Cool.
• When pies are cooled, the meat filling will have pulled away from the inside of the crusts. To fill this gap, slightly warm 1 cup of the reserved jellied stock, just until it is pourable. Pour a small amount of stock into each pie through the metal vent. Remove and discard vents. Refriger ate pies for several hours to solidify the jellied stock. Serve pies cold, or at room temperature. Or, place a pie on a plate and warm slightly (the jellied stock will spill out when you cut warmed pies.)
RUNNING TIME: 92 minutes
RATING: 2 stars
CAUSEWAY
BY REX REED THE NORTH SHORE WEEKENDYear-end releases reveal a plethora of fine actors vainly trying to apply their extraordinary skills to raise the quality level of mediocre films. Jennifer Lawrence in Causeway is a perfect example.
The 2012 Oscar winner for Silver Linings Playbook and multiple-awards winner for American Hustle in 2013 now appears in a thoughtful, muted character study about a female soldier named Lindsay, suffering from the deep physical and psychological wounds retained from combat in Afghanistan.
This is not a film likely to continue her collection of acting rewards, but if nothing else, it demonstrates a serious actor's admirable dedication to meaningful subject matter over the lure of commercial and financial success. Lawrence is one of the film's producers, and it would never have been made without her.
While working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lindsay's vehicle hit an explosive, leaving her with a brain injury that left her body torn and her mind shattered. After an arduous rehab period when she learned to walk and talk and drive a car again, she was on her way to recovery, but when she was released it was clear that she was not ready to regain control of her life the way she once did. Slow, unsteady, dependent on Vicodin, she returns home to New Orleans, the city she worked so hard to leave behind, and finds herself a stranger to its vigorous, clueless, partygoing ways as well as those of her alcoholic, indifferent mother
(Linda Emond).
Against everyone's trepidation and advice, she takes a menial job cleaning swimming pools and plans to return to the front lines as soon as her doctor approves her petition to deploy. In the interim, she befriends a burly, Black auto mechanic with one leg named James (Brian Tyree Henry), who is plagued by his own problems, including a brother who is a drug-dealing deaf mute serving a prison sentence.
While this unlikely and not entirely convincing friend ship shifts gradually from casual to complex, they eat New Orleans seafood, walk around aimlessly in neighborhoods no tourist would ever care to visit, and the film introduces one element of soap opera depression after the next. For one of America's most colorful cities, New Orleans as photographed by acclaimed cinematographer Diego Garcia ( Wildlife ) with so little character it might as well be Cleve land.
Nothing ever happens, the ending is uncertain, we never know if Lindsay will ever be able to give and accept love again, and the first-time direction by TV and theater direc tor Lila Neugebauer sadly demonstrates her rather obvious lack of experience.
Causeway is a disappointment, but the thing you take home is Jennifer Lawrence's nuanced performance as she shows every shifting emotion and contrast in the life of a lady soldier searching for definition who doesn't feel at ease in either world war or peace.
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THE SON
The final entry in a French trilogy delivers on many levels, including bringing the talents of Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern to the big screen.
RUNNING TIME: 2 hrs, 3 minutes
RATING: 3 stars
BY REX REED THE NORTH SHORE WEEKENDThe third and final entry in French writer-director Florian Zeller's acclaimed trilogy of plays about conflicted family values in perpetual crisis, The Son is a bold, harrowing, and unflinch ingly sobering film that is admittedly not for every taste, but an unavoidably intelligent piece of filmmaking for mature viewers that I highly recommend.
Its predecessor, The Father, won an Academy Award for An thony Hopkins, who returns in a much smaller role cut from the same bolt of rough fabric, again playing the hard-boiled family patriarch he's patented on film, but this time he's just another perfect cog in a balanced wheel of fraught domestic dynamics headlined by the great team of Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern.
For one of the most dazzling and versatile musical dynamos on the stage since Al Jolson, Jackman, currently starring on Broad way in the smash hit revival of The Music Man, has been deified as a cross between Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, but on film he's appeared in so many fiascos that it is a genuine pleasure to finally watch him soar dramatically in a serious movie that showcases him at the top of his range and power.
The Son is not a flawless masterpiece either, but it is worth a visit for many reasons, not the least of which is a rare chance to see a dynamic performer in the peak of his career as Peter, a successful New York lawyer who has survived a painful divorce to re-discover domestic bliss with his warm, vibrant new wife Beth (Vanessa Kirby) and their first baby.
But the euphoria crumbles with an urgent distress signal from Peter's distraught ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) who is worried about their teenage son Nicholas (Zen McGrath). To Kate's dis may, Nicholas hasn't been to school for months and has exhibited
alarming signs of mental problems so deep he can no longer cope.
Peter disrupts his newfound happiness to tackle the crisis and finds the son he's neglected is in worse shape than anyone imag ined. Nicholas, on the verge of taking his SATs to prepare for college, radiates so much sadness and depression that he's on the verge of being expelled. Worse, he reveals the cuts and gashes of self-inflicted wounds and suicidal desires to end a life of misery.
Peter and Beth, working hard to make their relatively fresh mar riage splinter-free, find themselves submerged in the complexity of relationships Peter thought he had left behind.
Taking in the desperate Nicholas to live with them, he is grateful that Beth is coping so well with all of his enigmas, but gratitude is not what a woman, wife and new mother wants.
Beth has problems of her own, and so does Kate, who bears the scars of betrayal and desertion Peter inflicted when he left her. Co-authored by director Zeller and the distinguished (and more experienced) screen writer Christopher Hampton (Atonement, Dangerous Liaisons), The Son explores every angle of mental de spair with heart-rending compassion and insight, painfully prob ing contemporary issues of divorce, suicide, bipolar withdrawal from society, and worse.
The film's theatrical roots are evident in its structure, character development, and dramatic plot shifts, but the total realism on display in all of the detailed performances achieve a balance that is emotionally engrossing.
For what many will dismiss as a soap opera on a grand scale, The Son has nuances that are constantly evolving—especially in the hypnotic scenes of interpolative authority and eloquence on display in Hugh Jackman's eloquent centerpiece performance.
The problem for me is that the movie is so relentlessly down beat that it's hard to find a single smile, much less a laugh, to ease the tension. I'm not sure the holiday season is the right time to release a film this gloomy. I admired The Son for many reasons, but I did not go away feeling much Christmas cheer.
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LIFE ISN’T PERFECT, PERSONAL, OR PERMANENT
Mindfulness and Meditation Instructor Ann Barbour shares her journey to a balanced life and what is currently on her nightstand.
Yin and yang candle holder, etsy.com
Tarot card deck, Anthropologie, 1780 Green Bay Road, Highland Park, 847-681-0200
Miniature stone buddha statue (similar), buddhagroove.com
Appointed biodegradable bookcloth-covered spiralbound journal, appntd.com
My current mantra is “Life isn’t perfect, per sonal, or permanent,” courtesy of author Ruth King. If I keep that in mind, most moments in life seem to be a little more easeful. My night stand reflects where I am today in my life, which is on a health and wellness journey. After two serious medical situations where my body was giving all kinds of warning signals that I chose to ignore, I had to make changes. The second incident set off a twisting and turning journey of discovery on taking care of myself physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The journey brought me to completing a twoyear teacher certification in Mindfulness and Meditation taught by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach—with 1,400 students from 75 countries.
Kornfield and Brach both hold PhDs in clinical psychology and teach meditation internation ally, where they offer a great balanced approach to life. I learned how to teach and came out with a deeper, stronger, and consistent meditation practice, a clearer sense of self, a greater sense of humor, and a greater sense of curiosity.
Most of the books in my overflowing stack come from the recommended and required school reading that I am still working my way through—keenly aware that there is nothing
light, clever, or whimsical in it. But I am OK with that … my pile is just what I need for this journey to becoming the best instructor and in dividual I can. A tiny buddha and two tarot card decks also live on my nightstand, the latter for daily readings and journaling.
A few of the books currently on my night stand:
The Wedge by Scott Carney. This book talks cold therapy, evolution, fear, and why it’s good for us to be uncomfortable and how to make it work for our health. I am now rethinking how I view things I dislike or find uncomfortable. Be lieve it or not, this exploration is enjoyable.
Breath by James Nestor. “No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or strong you are, none of it matters if you’re not breathing properly.” The more I read about breathing, the more I want to know.
Food Fix by Dr Mark Hyman. “Our most powerful tool to reverse the global epidemic of chronic disease, heal the environment, reform politics, and revive economies is food.” I’m fasci nated about our food systems and how they si multaneously impact an individual’s health and the world at large. When I heard Dr. Hyman speak about having our health span equal our life span, it became a personal aspiration.
The Game of Life and How to Play It by Flor ence Scovel Shinn. This book was self-published in 1923 because Shinn could not find anyone
MATERIAL PURSUITS
This weekend’s curated luxury trends.
WELL FRAMED
Every year it happens. You need to find another round of unique gifts. This is the year you’re going to get creative gifts for everyone on your list, you say. Super personal, thought-through, one-of-akind. Something that will make them either tear up or burst into laughter—or both. Framebridge is here to help with a new line of burl wood frames. Burl wood’s popularity first peaked in the 1970s but it’s having a major moment once again. Its sophisti cated and visually striking grain makes it a favorite of sculptors and furniture makers. The natu rally varying swirls and textures of the burl wood grain in our frames make them unique, complementing a wide range of art, and are equally at home with traditional and eclectic styles. For more information, visit framebridge.com or stop by one of the Chicago locations in person.
who would publish it. Since then, this small but powerful work—which shares that life is not meant to be engaged with as a battle but more like a game—has never been out of print. It is a great lesson for someone who can take life too seriously. Any way to shift and create balance helps.
Everything is Spiritual by Rob Bell. This came to my nightstand by way of The Community Church and a book club discussion. I loved the combination of science, spirituality, and God in one place. Not everyone liked the book, but I be lieve all found value in the questions Bell asked and also found the reflections worth their time.
We all know our beginning, but we do not know our middle or our end, so why not make sure—despite all the things we need to do (most of which are heavy and boring)—we are balanc ing them with the little things that give us joy? Everyone is his or her own best teacher and no one can tell us what light us up. For me, it is im mersing myself in nature, a smile from a friend or stranger, laughter, friends, and family (most of the time). When I pay attention to these things it impacts my days, my mindset, and my journey. I wish you well on yours.
To learn more about participating in Barbor’s In troduction to Mindfulness and Meditation class, Startwith-U, email annbarbour@me.com. She would love to travel on a journey together.
IPPOLITA
“I have created a new kind of luxury experience that en courages women to explore the beauty of the pieces within a radically new environment,” says Ippolita Rostagno, Creative Director and CEO of IPPOLITA. The Italian jewelry brand has for the first time removed the traditional “behind-theglass” boundary found in most luxury jewelers at their new boutique in 900 N. Michigan Avenue. Clients are invited to touch, try on, and experience the jewelry in an intimate way as though opening one’s personal jewelry box. As an artist first and a designer second, Rostagno believes that the craftsmanship behind her designs is as important as the beauty. There is no better way to discover this than to immerse oneself in the jewelry brand known for its organic shapes, effortless layering, and versatility.
Atelier oval ring in 18K gold with diamonds, ippolita.com
BRAVA PURE LIGHT OVEN Home Cooking Simplified
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… my pile is just what I need for this journey to becoming the best instructor and individual I can.
TREE-MENDOUS
Pasquesi talks about the family business and all they do to help their customers during the “most wonderful time of the year.”
BY BILL MCLEAN ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT
Mike Pasquesi was a first-year track and field athlete as a senior at Lake Forest High School in 1988.
Coaches slotted him in the 800-meter run, a grueling event. It’s not a distance race. It’s not a sprint.
It’s both.
But Pasquesi proved to be a quick study, having qualified for the prep state meet in Charleston and making the Bowling Green State University men’s track and field team as a walk-on.
His run in the family business, Pasquesi Home and Gardens in Lake Bluff, reached its 30th year this year. Now 53 years old and the store’s president and general manager, Pasquesi shows no signs of slowing down.
“My parents’ business philosophy is also mine,” the Lake Bluff resident says of what guided the company’s co-founders, Edward and Marie Pasquesi, who essentially launched the venture when they attached a garden cen ter to the hardware store they ran in Highland Park in the 1970s.
“Selling quality products is up there in importance, along with being serious about providing the best possible service to custom ers,” he continues. “They also were always hungry to succeed. They never got complacent. They believed that the minute you did that was the minute you started to fail.”
Mike Pasquesi was born on Thanksgiving.
“The best news that day wasn’t my birth,” he says, grinning. “It was that everybody still got to eat.”
The day after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days every year at Pasquesi Home and Gardens. The scents of Christmas—particu larly the Fraser fir trees—hit you as soon as you enter the welcoming, spacious layout on Shore Drive.
“It’s a family tradition for many, to come here on that Friday and pick out a tree, as well as shop for other holiday items,” says Pasquesi, whose sisters, Cindy (director of human re sources) and Lisa (accounting and marketing), also work there. “All generations shop here. You can buy something here for your grand parents, your spouse, your kids, and your pets.
“I’ve heard customers call our store their ‘happy place.’ ”
The number of smiles inside Pasquesi Home and Gardens nearly matches the number of Christmas trees—mostly Fraser firs from North Carolina—this time of year. Fraser fir is the No. 1 selling Christmas tree for several reasons, including its flattened blue-green needles, pleasant fragrance, and long needle retention.
The trees hang from the ceiling so the branches naturally fall, displaying their full size and shape and allowing customers to twirl them and check out all sides.
Pasquesi’s attentive, knowledgeable em
to be a fun and easy experience,” Pasquesi says, adding his independent store deals with three suppliers. “We like to sell Fraser firs because they perform well, as long as they’re taken care of at home.”
and products to turn homes and gardens into stylish sanctuaries.
Pets are always welcome at the location, too. Pet food and bird baths are available for pur chase. There’s even a Bone Bar for your Fido.
Mike Pasquesi got his first taste of busi ness at the age of 7 or 8, when he and sister Cindy hawked Italian ice outside their parents’ hardware store in Highland Park.
He later worked for Mom and Dad when the family business was known as Pasquesi Home and Farm Supplies in Lake Forest. The middle child completed tasks in the ware house, swept floors, helped load cars, and rang up sales as a teen.
He’d also earn money at the store over the holidays and summers while majoring in inter national studies at BGSU in Ohio.
“At the beginning of my senior year in college, I realized, yes, this is a very good business, something I want to do for a living,” recalls Pasquesi, who worked at the company’s Barrington location from 1992-2000, attaining the position of manager before it closed.
The family business left the Lake Forest location—the small size wouldn’t allow it to fully service the burgeoning clientele—and opened its doors in Lake Bluff in 2006.
“I learned a ton from my parents,” says Pasquesi, who met his future wife, Cincinnati native Sarah, at BGSU and proposed to her in Vienna, Austria. “They’ve been major influenc es. They’re great people, and they were great business people when they ran things. They were a super team. Dad stops by every day; nothing beats having one of the co-founders of your company nearby every day.”
Pasquesi usually wakes up at 4:30 a.m. on workdays, walks his havapoo named Louie, and arrives at work by 5:45 a.m. He returns home at 6 p.m., ideally, though that time is as flux as the weather in these parts.
But Pasquesi Home and Gardens doesn’t just thrive because its leader is as committed to the store as his folks were.
“In order for us to have success, you have to have great employees who are also great people,” Pasquesi says of his team of 40. “We have those. Our workforce is the engine that drives us.”
“I’ve been fortunate,” adds the father of three sons (Sam, 22; Oliver, 20; and Simon, 17). “My dad came to America from Italy and began working here at a country club, cutting grass. Then he became a butcher before own ing a hardware store.
ployees, upon request, will remove at least one inch from the base of the tree trunk (before the new owner sets it in a tree stand at home), and then they net your tree and place it on your car.
“We want the selection of the perfect tree
Pasquesi Home and Gardens also offers fresh greens, home accents, outdoor decora tions, artificial trees, ornaments, and unique place settings and tableware.
Between January and mid-November? It carries a wide variety of quality plants
“I had a front-row seat to the American Dream.”
Pasquesi Home and Gardens, 847-615-2700, is located at 975 North Shore Drive, Lake Bluff. Visit pasquesi.com for more information.
I’ve heard customers call our store their ‘happy place.’
Mike Pasquesi
