Spoon Magazine Spring 2019 by Spoon University at Northwestern

Spring 2019

Four Delicious Popsicle Recipes

WITH Picnics, Popsicles, Pierogies & More

on pg 14

the

Fun Food issue PHOTO BY CHLOE KRUGEL

IN THIS ISSUE EDITOR’S LETTER STARTER 8 DISCOVER THE WORLD THROUGH DUMPLINGS A dumpling world tour.

APPETIZER 12 PICNIC BASKETS FOR YOUR NORTHWESTERN DIRECTION Pack your favorite snacks and hit the lakefill.

FLIGHT 16 POP, LOCK AND DROP IT

Sweet frozen treats to enjoy across Chicago.

ENTRÉE 30 SILENCING THE STIGMA AROUND SPAM How’d this canned meat get such a stinky reputation?

DESSERT 34 NAMA-STAY FOR A BEER Up dog. Down dog. Chug.

I forking love food. And I know – that doesn’t make me unique. If it did, this magazine probably wouldn’t exist and the world would be a lot sadder of a place. For the past four years, I have been lucky enough to be a part of Northwestern’s amazing group of foodies, also known as Spoon. Together we’ve shared SpoonFests, cooking classes, countless snacks and meals, and many delirious laughs over long days editing. And, most importantly, I’ve found the perfect brunch companions who will always order pancakes (and French toast and whatever else sounds good) for the table in addition to our own meals. As this is my last issue as print editor before I graduate and pass down the giant Spoon, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the appreciation I developed for food and the important role it plays in all of our lives. We all have to eat to live, but there’s so much more to it than that. What we put in our bodies reflects our capabilities to go about our days – access to healthy foods and fruits and vegetables isn’t universal, and the consequences of this are huge. On top of that, there’s the environmental impact of our food choices, from the foods we choose to eat to those we choose to discard. Yes, food journalism is recipes and reviews, and those are important too. But food journalism also tells stories of economic and geographic disparity, stories of science and climate change. Not only that, but food brings people together. It’s a community builder. So much of the eating and drinking we do is a shared activity – bonding through breaking bread. Eating together helps break down walls. I’m reminded of Chef Amanda Saab’s Dinner With Your Muslim Neighbor (covered more in depth in our 2018 issue) where she built a guide to reduce hate and increase understanding between communities, all over the act of sharing a meal. In that way, food has become a social network of its own – physically and virtually. Just look at how popular the food Instagram community has become. Food Instagrammers receive celebrity treatment at restaurants, and pictures of hamburgers rack up millions of likes. But going beyond that, we become connected to strangers on the internet through our shared love for food. We make friends who we trust for recommendations to the best restaurants or the best recipes, and sometimes they become our real life friends in the future. Food journalism tells the stories of real people, struggles and successes, and those are themes to which we can all relate. On top of it all, to me, food is just plain old fun. It has been a way for me to express my creativity and try new things throughout my life, from my childhood obsession with recreating crazy cakes from Ace of Cakes to my senior year endeavor of cooking my way through an entire bread baking cookbook. It has brought me immense joy and I wanted to end my editing role with something that reflected just that. I invite you to ease into summer with our Fun Foods issue. It’s full of bright colors, fresh flavors and funny stories. Read it outside on a sunny day for the full effect. Never ever forks, Ariel Coonin Print Director

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ST O M THE S ’ VE T ’ A U H PRESIDENT Jessica Paridis O Y W D O O PRINT DIRECTOR Ariel Coonin F FUN R EATEN? EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mia Hirsch ASSOCIATE EDITORS Aine Dougherty & Gabby Cano EVE

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jessica Paridis PHOTO DIRECTORS Gianna Chan TREASURER Lauren Gold AD SALES DIRECTOR Courtney McClelland FUNDRAISING & EVENTS DIRECTOR Mary Parker SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Tessa Kauppila

fe icken h c d e roast

WRITERS Camille Bilodeau, Gabby Cano, Ariel Coonin, Ella DeBode, Aine Dougherty, Lauren Gold, Annie Gao, Mia Hirsch, Tessa Kauppila, Joanna Kim, Sophie Kobylinski, Chloe Krugel, Grace Luxton, Princie Kim, Zoe Malin, Sam Milstein, Sophie Rodosky

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DESIGNERS Justine Banbury, Katie Brussel, SooMin Lee, Grace Luxton, Madeleine Ward

tempura

ice cream

peanut butter, sriracha + pickle sandw ich

PHOTOGRAPHERS Pranavi Ahuja, Camille Bilodeau, Amy Choi, Zoe Dockser, Aine Dougherty, Nami Hoffman, Tessa Kauppila, Chloe Krugel, Lauren Lee, Sam Milstein, Devon Spungin AD SALES Amanda Brown, Eden Hirschﬁeld, Shea Randall, Jack Wetzel

ed ith fri ns w r e g u bur ese b e h c + mac

Spoon Magazine is an extension of Spoon University, an online campus food community founded by Northwestern alumni Sarah Adler and Mackenzie Barth. nu.spoonuniversity.com 2019

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CELERY JUICE: Health or Hoax? Spilling the juice on the latest fad. By Annie Gao Move over kale, there’s a new green juice in town. Celery juice, the hottest new drink on the market, is making a buzz on social media due to its long list of potential health benefits. From its debloating powers to reducing cardiovascular disease, celery juice seems to be the answer to every ailment out there. Seems too good to be true? We thought so too. Before you head out and hop on the juicing bandwagon, chew on these hard facts about celery juice.

SOCIAL MEDIA’S INFLUENCE Social media plays a huge role in influencing our decisions, and the marketing strategies behind celery juice focus heavily on this platform for consumer outreach. Supermodels like Naomi Campbell and Rosie Huntington Whiteley, along with many of the Victoria’s Secret Angels swear by the proclaimed benefits of celery juice. Many even down a glass of it first thing in the morning, right after they hop out of bed. Hop on over to YouTube and expect to see some of the biggest vloggers, like Aimee Song, with a cup of this green juice in their morning routine videos. These influencers have huge social followings, so it’s no wonder that the fad of celery juice has spread so quickly. There are even hashtags like #celeryjuicechallenge that invite more consumers to engage in the internet craze. The celeb influence only adds fuel to the fire. Many of celery juice’s most devout drinkers are models with toned bodies and impossible measurements, which can mislead many to think that if they drink celery juice everyday they can achieve a similar body shape. It also doesn’t help that weight loss is one of the main reasons people do go on this juice cleanse. With the rise of false advertising and sponsorships on social media, it is important to discern facts over photos.

THE SCIENCE Let’s talk about the science behind celery juicing. According to Anthony Williams, the self-proclaimed “Medical Medium” who started the craze, the drink contains anti-inflammatory properties that can heal autoimmune diseases, “sodium bonds” that flush out toxins, and other nutrients that can even help to “heal” individuals afflicted with depression, bipolar disorder and OCD. And these are just a few of the many touted benefits that Williams lists on his website, Medicalmedium.com. These extraordinary claims seem too good to be true for a single vegetable to possess, let alone any food group out there. According to Registered Dietician Rachel Goodman in an interview with Mind Body Green, “Celery is a good source of potassium, vitamin K and flavonoids — compounds that have been shown in studies to help keep electrolyte balance, function as antioxidants, and can help lower blood pressure and inflammation.” Similar beliefs are echoed by Dr. Safdieh, a practicing pediatrician in New York. So yes — celery does contain anti-inflammatory properties, but its effects are nowhere near the length as popularized on social media, especially not in the juice form. Most of the essential vitamins and fiber found in celery can be best absorbed by the body through chewing and digesting the entire stalk, not through its juice. Some research shows that juicing essentially removes a significant amount of the fibrous pulp of the fruit or vegetable, a vital component that keeps individuals feeling full. Finally, don’t fall for the need to detox. Our bodies naturally detoxify themselves, thanks to our kidneys and liver. The concept of drinking to detox tends to be grounded in myths. Drinking enough water can be just as good. Celery may have been overlooked as a vegetable in the past, but it is back in full force. I’m not dismissing the fact that celery juice, just like any other green vegetable juice, contains beneficial vitamins and nutrients. But watch out for all of the hype and look with a little skepticism. Will a glass a day cure depression and give you a 23-inch waist? I’m not so sure about that. The celery juice fad does offer an important lesson though: it is always helpful to do some initial research before jumping on any health trend. Celery juice isn’t the pinnacle of health, and neither is any other superfood out in the grocery aisle. Eating a diet rich with vegetables and whole foods will deliver the same health results, and it won’t break the bank either. So if you really want to get in on the celery fad, save yourself the money on an expensive store-bought bottle and stick to the stalks.

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ILLUSTRATIONS BY JESSICA PARIDIS

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Finding the Beauty in the Ugly Re-evaluating what pretty means for produce. By Sophie Kobylinski In the modern age of advertisement and media in the United States, emphasis on cosmetic appeal extends all the way to the food industry. “Foodstagram” accounts and other social media platforms glamorize aesthetically pleasing food with staged and edited photos, which transformed our cultural expectations of consumption. We are programmed to choose the biggest strawberry, the brightest orange carrot and the smoothest potato. Our obsession with the visual quality of food keeps us from recognizing the wasted potential of overlooked fruits and vegetables. You’re right not to eat rotten or spoiled produce, but more often than not fruits and vegetables with minor aesthetic imperfections are often discarded when they are still perfectly good. It’s time to reevaluate our attitudes concerning imperfect produce and start to overlook unusual size, asymmetry and scarring.

There are a multitude of reasons why you should add ugly produce to your shopping cart, but here are just a few. 1. TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE The statistics of food waste in the United States are staggering, with rejected produce being the largest contributor. According to The Guardian, roughly 50 percent of produce grown in the U.S. is thrown away, with over 60 million tons of fruits and vegetables wasted annually. Grocery stores discard perfectly good produce that fail to meet size standards set by consumer purchasing habits. As a result, perfectly acceptable food is discarded and dumped in landfills, where it contributes to the release of methane gas into the atmosphere. By purchasing misshapen and cosmetically “inferior” produce, you can contribute to the mitigation of these problems. Take advantage of the wasted nourishment in a misshapen tomato, and you’ll be helping the environment too!

2. FOR HIGHER NUTRITIONAL VALUE Recent Newcastle studies have revealed that produce treated with pesticides often loses the nutritional benefits that come with natural processes of environmental exposure. When fruits and vegetables fend off pests, they undergo stress that leads to the production of antioxidants that add to their nutritional value. Heavy-duty pesticides, although they aid in maintaining the aesthetic quality of the produce, prevent these processes from occurring and strip nutritional value from our food. Small blemishes on the exterior of produce are less appealing to the eye but often signal a greater quality within. And hey — size isn’t everything! Small produce is often overlooked and rejected under the guise of supposed inferiority; however, experts say that the size of fruits and vegetables does not necessarily correlate with nutritional value. Little fruits and vegetables are nutritious too!

Ready to accept aesthetic imperfection and realize the beauty in ugly fruits and veggies? Here’s how to reap the benefits of imperfect produce. 1.Take a trip to a farmer’s market to find locally grown and fresh produce near you. Evanston Farmers’ Market 1800 Maple Avenue, Evanston Saturdays 7:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Green City Market Clark Street and Lincoln Avenue, Chicago Wednesdays + Saturdays 7 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Skokie Farmers Market 5127 Oakton Street, Skokie Sundays 7:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

2. Try one of the recently opened companies that send “ugly“ produce directly from the farm to your door.

3. TO ENJOY SUPERIOR FLAVOR With most produce shipped nationwide, fruits and vegetables are often bred for size and durability rather than flavor. Avoiding bland and tasteless produce can be difficult; however, overlooking imperfect outside appearance is a step in the right direction. Surveys have found that smaller produce often contains a sweeter flavor and is thought to be more tender.

Imperfect Produce www.imperfectproduce.com

Hungry Harvest www.hungryharvest.net

3. If you can’t bring yourself to enthusiastically bite into a funny looking fruit or vegetable, whip up a smoothie or juice using the produce.

In the case of produce, the imperfect is perfectly good. PHOTOS BY DEVON SPUNGIN

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DISCOVER THE WORLD It’s impossible to be down in the dumps with this many dumplings to choose from. By Princie Kim Dumpling noun (dəmp-liŋ): A ball of dough that may or may not be stuffed with a filling. The extremely broad, yet simple, definition of a dumpling allows for so much variation in what goes into making one. There are almost no rules for how they should be cooked or what ingredients are used. As long as the two main elements — the dough and the filling (or lack thereof) — are there, the rest is up to the dumpling maker. Depending on which country or region the dumpling comes from, the dough and filling are made with ingredients and techniques native to local culture. As a result, the world has a diversity of dumplings that each look, feel and taste completely different. Here’s a sampling of 11 dumplings from around the world.

XIAO LONG BAO, CHINA Also known as soup dumplings, Xiao Long Bao are steamed bite-sized parcels made of a paper-thin layer of dough that barely encapsulates a small ball of pork. These dumplings explode in your mouth with broth when you break through the outer skin. First-time eaters usually burn their tongues, not expecting the burst of scalding hot soup, so take this as our warning. These guys are usually paired with black vinegar and thin slices of raw ginger to help cut the richness of the meat and broth.

SIU MAI, CHINA At any dim sum restaurant, you’ll probably find at least one order of siu mai at every table because it’s such a staple. These steamed dumplings have a distinct yellow exterior from the thin dough that covers all but the very top of the dumpling. The open top leaves the pork and shrimp interior exposed and is sometimes garnished with roe for a pop of orange color.

EMPANADA, LATIN AMERICA Leaning on the heavier side of the dumpling spectrum, empanadas consist of a thicker dough and are usually filled with beef. These Latin American pockets are shaped in a half-moon and either crimped or twisted on the edges before they are baked to golden perfection in the oven.

PIEROGI, POLAND These dumplings are an extremely simple, traditional Polish comfort food. All-purpose flour and water come together to make the standard dough that is filled with potatoes and cheese. Pierogies are first boiled to cook the dough through, and then they’re thrown in a pan to sauté with butter and onions. Serve it with a side of sour cream to dollop onto each bite.

MANDU, KOREA

You’ll find wildly different variations of mandu depending on the Korean restaurant you try. They can be deep fried, pan-fried, steamed or boiled. There’s endless choices of fillings, the most common being kimchi or a mixture of pork or beef with chives. Mandu is served with a side of vinegary soy sauce with Korean chili flakes for a salty, spicy kick.

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THROUGH DUMPLINGS RAVIOLI, ITALY Probably the most well-known dumpling from Europe, ravioli is made with two sheets of pasta dough pressed together around a filling that ranges from a cheesy mixture of spinach and ricotta to luxurious proteins like lobster. Ravioli can be made into any shape depending on how the dough is cut but usually found as squares or circles. The big question is: do you use a fork and knife to eat ravioli? Or do you go fork only and cut with the side of the fork?

GNOCCHI, ITALY If pasta isn’t quite your thing at Italian restaurants, go for the gnocchi. They’re one of the two filling-less dumplings on the list and arguably the cutest. Gnocchi are made of potato and look like petite pillows. Similar to pasta, they’re boiled in water to cook but have a super chewy texture that you can’t get from your standard spaghetti.

SAMOSA, MIDDLE EAST & SOUTH ASIA To start any Indian meal, samosas are an obligatory appetizer. Before they even hit your table, you’ll be able to identify them by their signature triangular shape. Samosas are traditionally vegetarian, filled with peas, potatoes, carrots and a whole bunch of Indian spices. But to counter all that healthy veg, they’re deep fried, which gives them a crispy outside.

GYOZA, JAPAN A Japanese izakaya’s menu isn’t complete if it doesn’t have gyoza on it. These dumplings have a pleated top and are filled with ground pork and cabbage. What really makes gyoza special is its double texture. They’re pan-fried only on the bottom while the rest of the dumpling is steamed, so you end up with a crispy, golden base and a chewy top.

MOMO, SOUTH ASIA

Definitely one of the lesser-known dumplings out there, momos are a type of steamed dumpling hailing from the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet with a seasoned meat filling. But what’s arguably the best part of momos might not even be the dumpling itself but the achar sauce served with them on the side. It’s a spicy tomato-based sauce mixed with sesame that you must dip the dumplings in for a complete momo experience.

MATZO BALL, EASTERN EUROPE Matzo balls are the second of this list’s filling-less dumplings. True to its name, they’re literally balls made from matzah meal (Jewish unleavened bread). You’ll find these guys sitting in a bowl of chicken broth as a part of the iconic Jewish dish, matzo ball soup.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JESSICA PARIDIS

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The Story Behind Salted Caramel Everything you need to know about this ultimate, sweet-and-salty treat. By Sophie Rodosky SALTED CARAMEL IS EVERYWHERE TODAY,

from upscale restaurants to Starbucks menus to grocery store shelves and everywhere in between. Take Chicago, for example: you could walk into any Jewel-Osco and buy a cartful of salted caramel goodies (sauce, protein bars, yogurt, cold brew… you get the point). If you’re craving something a little more gourmet, you can hit up any number of trendy restaurants, cafés and chocolate shops, and have your fill of salted caramel treats. We’re living in an age of salted caramel bliss. So how did we get here? Like many well-loved desserts, salted caramel’s story begins in France. Salted caramel was invented in Brittany, a region in the northwest of France. According to a French website devoted to all things salted caramel (caramelaubeurresalé.net), this beautiful coastal area has been a major producer of sea salt for over 600 years. With plenty of salt to go around, the inhabitants of Brittany long ago began adding salt to their butter. Salted butter — beurre salé — became a staple of Brittany and remains so

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today. In the 1930s and 40s, some salted butter caramel recipes appeared in books from the region. Experts on French foods at pate-tartiner.com say that, in 1946, Raymond and Yvonne Audebert invented Salidou, a creamy, spreadable salted caramel sauce that is still incredibly popular in France today. Then, according to caramelaubeurresalé.net, salted caramel — caramel au beurre salé — truly took off in Brittany in the 1970s, thanks to the chocolatier Henri Le Roux. In 1977, Le Roux invented a salted caramel confection filled with almonds and hazelnuts, which quickly won critical acclaim, as noted by the French culinary website le-gout-de-nos-regions. com. According to The New York Times food writer Kim Severson, in the late 1990s, the famous Parisian pastry chef Pierre Hermé created a salted caramel macaron, and a small group of American foodies became hooked. Severson explains that salted caramel made its debut in the US in top New York restaurants before trickling into high-end

food magazines, specialty food shows and upscale chocolate companies. Chains like Cheesecake Factory and Starbucks eventually adopted this combo, and consumers loved it. Salted caramel easily became a well-loved flavor across the country, thanks to a long history of salty-sweet desserts in the US (think Cracker Jacks, Reese’s, and Snicker’s) and thanks to the influence of dulce de leche, which helped to re-popularize caramel in the early 2000s. But the sweet-salty balance of salted caramel is loved for another reason: it’s highly addictive. According to The Independent journalist Sarah Young, scientists have discovered that people’s brains release heroin-like chemicals when they eat sweet, salty or fatty foods. When they eat a food containing all three (looking at you, salted caramel), their brains continuously crave more and more of it, as they taste different flavors in each bite. So yes, there is a solid scientific reason why it’s nearly impossible to stop eating a salted-caramel dessert. Who wants to resist the ways of science? Dig in!

Craving salted caramel now? Check out these can’t-miss Chicago treats: • •

•

• • •

BomboBar: Salted Caramel Bombolini Cupitol: Sticky Bun French Toast with Salted Caramel Pecans Doughnut Vault: Salted Caramel Old Fashioned Doughnut HotChocolate Bakery, Revival Food Hall: Salted Caramel Glaze Donut Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams: Salty Caramel Ice Cream JoJo’s Milk Bar: Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Sprinkles Cupcakes: Salty Caramel Cupcake

PHOTO BY PRANAVI AHUJA

High Tea Nothing’s better than some quali-tea pancakes. By Joanna Kim

Have you ever wanted to drink bubble tea in the morning, but came to the devastating realization that Kung Fu Tea opens at noon? Now, you can eat your favorite drink in the form of pancakes. Milk tea pancakes with boba toppings are a fun combination of these breakfast and dessert classics. For those unfamiliar with milk tea with boba, it’s a Taiwanese drink that consists of tea (normally black tea), milk, sweetener and gummy-like pearls made from tapioca starch.

Appetizer

For the syrup and boba topping: 2/3 cup white sugar 2/3 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup water (for syrup) 8 cups water (for boba) 1 cup tapioca pearls (boba) 1. Pour the white and brown sugar and water into pot. 2. Turn on the heat to medium. 3. Stir often until all of the sugar is dissolved and the consistency is that of syrup. 4. Boil 8 cups of water in a separate pot. 5. Add the tapioca pearls into boiling water. 6. Cook the boba for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is softened. 7. Remove the boba and chill for 5 minutes. 8. Add the boba into the syrup to keep it from hardening and drying. 9. Top the pancakes with the boba and homemade syrup.

Milk Tea Pancakes with Boba Toppings MEDIUM | 1.5 HOURS | SERVES 3

¾ cup water 5 bags black tea (English Breakfast recommended) ¼ cup milk 2 large eggs 2 tsp sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract ¼ tbsp salt 1 cup flour 1 tsp baking powder 1. Boil 3/4 cup of water with 4 bags of black tea for 30 to 40 minutes. 2. Pour 1/4 cup of milk onto the reduced 1/2 cup of tea. 3. In a bowl, whisk 2 large eggs. 4. Pour the sugar, vanilla extract and salt into the bowl, and mix. 5. Add the milk and tea mixture into the bowl and mix. 6. Open up the last tea bag and set aside loose leaves. 7. Add the flour, baking powder and small loose black tea leaves into the bowl, and fully mix until homogeneous. 8. Heat up a buttered frypan and pour in one ladle of batter. 9. Flip the pancakes when bubbles form on top, and cook until the bottom is golden brown.

PHOTO BY NAMI HOFFMAN

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Picnic Baskets for your Northwestern Direction

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No picnic basket? No problem, just use your backpack! Whether youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re between classes or hungry after an afternoon of darty-ing, soak up some sun on the lakefill with these picnic snacks.

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Appetizer

“Leftover Dining Dollars” Picnic Basket There are two types of Northwestern students: those who blow their dining dollars within the first two weeks of the quarter and those who somehow end up with $100+ dollars by Spring Quarter. If you’re part of the latter group, this is the basket for you.

Mod Pizza Pictured: arugula, tomato, mushroom pizza with pesto drizzle Hubert’s Lemonade Blackberry Lemonade from Paws ‘n’ Go C-Store Mini Ben & Jerry’s ice cream pints from Paws ‘n’ Go C-Store Pictured: Cookie Dough + Americone Dream

“Study Abroad Changed Me” Picnic Basket The lakefill teeming with hammocks and pale, winter-quarter-surviving Northwestern students may not have the exact same ~vibes~ as picnicking by the Eiffel Tower, but c’est la vie!

French baguette Fromage Brie ($3.99 at Target [tar–jay]) Gouda Grapes Madeleines Bottle of your favorite Rosé Deli slices or Tofurkey slices

PHOTOS BY AMY CHOI

Hangover Picnic Basket Scroll through those cringe-worthy pictures you may or may not remember taking and patch together the happenings of your night while refueling with your friends over a picnic on the lakefill.

Mimosas 2 parts sparkling wine or champagne 1 part orange juice Cold brew Spinach and feta omelette on an English muffin Avocado toast 1 avocado, sliced or smashed whole wheat toast Blackberries + raspberries

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FROZEN TREATS TO BEAT THE HEAT Put down the red, white and blue rocket pops. Popsicles just got a makeover. By Zoe Malin Instead of picking up a box of the neon-colored ice pops that line grocery store shelves in the summer time, grab your blender and make these homemade treats. DIY popsicle varieties can take on a specific flavor, or they can be a frozen take on a beloved beverage. The fun doesn’t stop at popsicles’ base — you can top them off however you like with cookie crumbles, granola or a rich chocolate drizzle. All recipes below can be made using a popsicle mold or 6-ounce cups with wooden popsicle sticks. To store the popsicles, simply keep them in the freezer in their molds until eaten. You can also remove the popsicles from their molds and freeze each one individually in sealed plastic bags. These popsicles keep for about a month, but they’ll be devoured in less than a week during the warm months.

PB+B CHOCOLATE-TOPPED POPS EASY | 30 MINS. | SERVES 6

2 bananas, peeled 1 tbsp peanut butter 1 cup milk of your choice ½ cup Greek yogurt a sprinkle of ground cinnamon a drizzle of honey 1 10-ounce bag of chocolate chips 1. Blend the bananas, peanut butter, milk, Greek yogurt, cinnamon and honey together until all of the ingredients are combined. 2. Pour the mixture into six popsicle molds. Add popsicle sticks into the center of each individual pop. 3. Freeze the pops overnight. 4. After the pops are frozen, remove them from the mold and lay flat on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 5. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave. The melted chocolate should be thin, smooth and runny. 6. Dip the top half of each popsicle into the melted chocolate. Place the dipped popsicles back onto the lined cookie sheet. 7. Place the popsicles back in the freezer for 15 minutes so the chocolate and granola can set. 8. Finally, place each pop into a plastic bag to store them in the freezer. These PB+B Chocolate-topped Pops are a great proteinfilled post-workout snack.

PHOTOS BY CHLOE KRUGEL

Appetizer

STRAWBERRY LEMONADE POPS

TROPICAL SMOOTHIE POPS

EASY | 20 MINS. | SERVES 6

EASY | 30 MINS. | SERVES 6

1 pint strawberries 2 cups lemonade

1 1 1 1 1

1. Slice the strawberries into small pieces. Set aside. 2. Pour lemonade into six popsicle molds until each individual mold is filled halfway. 3. Drop a few strawberry slices into each popsicle mold. If there is still room after you add the strawberries, top them off with lemonade until the molds are filled to the top. Add popsicle sticks into the center of each individual pop. 4. Freeze the pops overnight. These popsicles are a drink on a stick and incredibly refreshing.

cup cubed frozen mango cup cubed frozen pineapple cup coconut milk tbsp honey or agave cup fresh or frozen raspberries

1. Blend the frozen mango, pineapple, coconut milk and honey together until the frozen fruit is emulsified. 2. Pour the raspberries into the mixture but do not blend. Instead, fold the raspberries into the liquid so they remain whole. 3. Pour the mixture into six popsicle molds. Add popsicle sticks into the center of each individual pop. 4. Freeze the popsicles overnight. Enjoy while beachside on a hot summer day.

CHOCOLATE COOKIES & CREAM MILKSHAKE POPS EASY | 30 MINS. | SERVES 6

1 pint chocolate ice cream 1 cup milk of your choice 1 package of Oreos (or a cookie equivalent) 1. Blend the chocolate ice cream and milk together until the mixture is smooth. Set aside. 2. Place the Oreo cookies into a plastic bag and tightly seal it. Make sure to get all of the air out of the bag before closing it. 3. Lay the bag flat on a hard surface. Use a rolling pin to crush the cookies into mediumsized pieces. 4. Add the crushed cookies to the ice cream mixture and fold the cookies into the liquid. 5. Pour the mixture into 6 popsicle molds. Add popsicle sticks into the center of each individual pop. 6. Freeze overnight. These popsicles are the perfect dessert to make for a pool party or to have as a sweet late night snack.

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Pop, Lock and Drop It Look beyond your ice cream cone and try these unique popsicle options around Chicago. By Aine Dougherty Everyone’s favorite portable sweet treat — the ubiquitous ice cream cone — is a crowd-pleaser for a reason: you can choose from endless flavors, and they’re always cool, creamy and delicious. Popsicles, on the other hand, conjure up nostalgic memories of deformed Spongebob Squarepants from the ice cream trucks pulling up to the corner when we were kids. Tasty, fun, cheap, but not necessarily a culinary masterpiece. We’re here to challenge that notion. If you don’t want to follow our recipes to make your own, this is a tour of some of the most interesting and ambitious popsicles around Chicago.

Pretty Cool Ice Cream www.prettycoolicecream.com 2353 North California Avenue Open 1p.m.-10 p.m. every day This Logan Square pop shop opened just last summer but has already created a neighborhood craze with its bright pink storefront, aesthetic vibes and wide range of flavors. You can also find these pops in spots around the city, from the upscale Aster Hall to Foxtrot Markets. It was extremely difficult to choose between all of the enticing choices, but here are two popsicles that seem the most original and cool for the summer, as Demi would say:

Orange Confetti Pop ($5.50) It’s pricey for a popsicle, but this elevated orange creamsicle confection is worth every penny. With tart cream cheese ice cream on the inside, and a hard orangeflavored shell studded with colorful sprinkles on the outside, this addictive pop is the best of both worlds.

Peanut Butter Potato Chip ($5.25) For the chocoholics out there, this popsicle features rich peanut butter ice cream dipped in decadent dark chocolate and crushed potato chips. Talk about a treat – the salty and sweet notes and mix of fun textures in this pop make it a winner in my book.

#SpoonT ip: An hono rable mention to flavors like tropical pina cola da and better-th an-a-Fud gesicle dark cho colate ($4.25/ $5.50) PHOTOS BY AINE DOUGHERTY

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La Michoacana Premium lamichoacanapremiumpilsen.com 1855 South Blue Island Avenue Open 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday–Thursday and 7 a.m.-12 a.m. Friday–Sunday

The best place to find popsicles in Chicago? Pilsen. This traditionally Mexican neighborhood has paleterias, or popsicle stands, all over the place and one of our favorites is La Michoacana Premium. This spot has almost 50 different flavors at affordable prices and include some unique options you might not see outside of Pilsen, like tamarind or mango con chile. Some of our favorites include:

Strawberry Kiwi ($2.19) This water-based pop is both gorgeous and delicious. It’s two-toned, with cross-sections of a kiwi and a strawberry, creating the perfect Instagram shot. Of course, it tastes refreshingly sweet and true to the fruits as well.

Oreo ($2.19) Milk’s favorite cookie comes to life in this cream-based popsicle, which brings back the flavors of your childhood with its smooth, luscious taste. No such thing as freezer burn at this paleteria.

Gordo’s Ice Cream Tip: #Spoon also You can ade homem rs get their wich ba m sand a re c e d ic sse and dre dipped r o v fa ite in your s. topping

gordosicecream.com Two locations in Edgewater and Printer’s Row Open 12 p.m – 9 p.m. every day At Gordo’s, you pick your ice cream or dairy-free paleta base, dip and sprinkles/toppings. The combinations are endless, like those math problems we used to do back in the day. Remember permutations? Yikes. Anyway, exercise your creativity and design your own dessert, or opt for one of the tried and true homemade pops on the menu, like:

The Grasshopper ($4.95) This pop inspired by a classic pie features mint chip ice cream with a dark chocolate dip, rolled in crunchy toasted almonds and drizzled with white chocolate. I can’t think of a better way to treat yourself this summer.

For you DIYers out there Might I suggest Dulce de Leche ice cream, milk chocolate dip, and Heath bar or salted peanuts? ($4.95) Yeah, you’re welcome.

Ozzie’s Pops and Pretzels http://ozziepops.com/ 600 East Grand Avenue Open 10 a.m.-10 p.m Sunday–Thursday and 10 a.m.-12 a.m. Friday–Saturday After a fun summer day frolicking around Navy Pier and taking a spin on the ferris wheel in the hot sun, you will have no doubt worked up a sweat, and you’ll probably be begging for an ice-cold treat to beat the heat. Ozzie’s to the rescue, with its modest pop prices, solid flavors and convenient location. (Oh, and definitely get a pretzel too.) We recommend:

Chocolate Banana ($2.75) Get all the delicious flavor of a chocolate-dipped banana without the hassle. They’re not just for kids, I promise.

Blueberry Basil ($2.75) This fruit-forward popsicle is perfect for a simple, lowcalorie, refreshing treat, while still packing a punch with its unique flavor combination.

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Chicago’s Over-the-Top Foods Where food meets fun. By Mia Hirsch The Midwest is known for its extravagant food scene with large, over-the-top portions (where you can order almost any dish at a diner and it will come with a side of pancakes and toast). Combine these insane portions with the pressures of a social media focused society and you get incredible artistic and edible creations. Chicago restaurants embrace this to the fullest with beautiful and fun meals and desserts. Here is a comprehensive guide to some of Chicago’s most insane (and photogenic) treats. But fair warning: you may want to visit these places on different days or face the effects of a sugar coma.

Vanilla Stout Cake Shake

Easter Special Cake Shake

Public House Cake Shake

I’m not sure if it’s the cake or the shake that draws people to this popular dessert, but the gravity-defying combination of the two is a win in my book. The restaurant holds a coveted River North zip code, so tourists need not fret if the perfect photo doesn’t happen at the Bean or in front of Burberry on Michigan Avenue — a photogenic cake shake awaits just a few blocks away. Public House offers two shakes year-round: the Chocolate Porter (chocolate shake, chocolate cake) and the Vanilla Stout (vanilla shake, confetti buttercream cake), pictured to the left. However, the restaurant also shakes it up with a seasonal shake, which always reaches new heights. This season’s specialty features multi-colored Easter bunnies sitting atop a rainbow “egg,” which in this case is a slice of rainbow cake.

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JoJo’s Milk Bar Milk + Cookies Does every cookie deserve its own glass of milk? On top of that, does every cookie deserve a specially flavored milk pairing? JoJo’s Milk Bar, located just one block away from Public House, rivals the cake shake hotspot with its lactose-tolerant spread. With an array of freshly baked cookies and aesthetically pleasing milks, this dessert is an Instagram filter’s dream.

Yuzu Chicago Sushi Art There Chicago goes again, defying expectations. Apparently, fun food doesn’t have to be sweet. In fact, some of Chicago’s greatest might even be savory, as evidenced by the intricate sushi art at Yuzu Chicago. This place is exciting and unique: It’s BYOB, the rolls look like bonafide sushi murals and the menu features items with names like “#ThugLife2 Jumbo Roll” and “I Dream of Tator Tots.” I don’t hate to say it: The days of All-You-Can-Eat Todoroki might be numbered.

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PHOTOS BY ZOE DOCKSER

Parlor Pizza Bar Tacolato Frappuccino, Sushirrito, Froyo and now: Tacolato. A portmanteau (yes, that is the word to describe blended words) we never knew we needed, this dessert is part taco, part gelato, and we are here for it. The menu offers six Tacolato combinations, such as the Gimme S’More (pictured above), which stuffs Rocky Road ice cream, marshmallow fluff, Hershey’s chunks and whipped cream inside of a miraculously sturdy graham cracker shell. There’s really no clean way to devour this fun food, so embrace the inevitable and chow down the way you really want to — with your hands!

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Rooftop Roundup Our top five Windy City rooftop spots, because elevated cocktails and stellar views are the best way to spend a summer day. By Lauren Gold & Sam Milstein

It’s a Thursday afternoon in July, and you’re drowning in both the sweltering heat and boredom. With nothing to do except watch yet another episode of “Friends” or take another nap on the Lakefill, you scroll through your Instagram feed waiting for inspiration to hit you. You keep seeing these gorgeous posts from atop rooftops in Chicago, paired with stunning pictures of classy-looking drinks. Here’s your answer: Grab a group of friends and hop on a train downtown. Head over to these five rooftop spots, spectacular views guaranteed.

LondonHouse 85 EAST WACKER DRIVE (LOOP)

LondonHouse rooftop

LondonHouse is a luxury hotel that features a rooftop bar on the 22nd floor that is held near and dear to many Chicagoans’ hearts. Green vines sprawl along the brick walls, and the Chicago River makes for the perfect backdrop. The classy, aesthetic atmosphere deserves a spot on your Instagram feed. It’s the ideal spot to kill some time before dinner reservations, especially if you don’t want to ruin your appetite (snacks were not being served here during happy hour). When we spent time here, we opted for the house rosé — and it was pricey. For two glasses, we paid roughly $34. College kids, this might not be the spot to splurge on cocktails or wine. However, one drink won’t necessarily kill your wallet. And for the record, the rosé was delicious and refreshing.

rosé + a view at LondonHouse

Raised, An Urban Rooftop Bar 1 WEST WACKER DRIVE (LOOP)

After finishing your glass of rosé from LondonHouse, take a seven minute walk over to Raised Rooftop. Raised is only on the third floor of the Renaissance Hotel, but it still boasts beautiful river views. For fans of all things savory, menu highlights include crispy Brussels sprouts with beer mustard, along with truffle fries with mushroom truffle aioli. On the sweeter side of the menu, the “Purple is to Lavender” cocktail features Hendrick’s gin, strawberries, lemon and lavender bitters. With vibey music and unique furniture, Raised bar in Chicago is a must-try.

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PHOTOS BY SAM MILSTEIN

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Cindy's Rooftop

12 SOUTH MICHIGAN AVE (LOOP / MILLENIUM PARK) Cindy’s Rooftop may just be the most talked about (and Instagrammed) bar in all of Chicago, and for good reason! Located at the very top of The Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, Cindy’s offers a view that is definitely worth the hype. It’s so popular with both tourists and Chicago natives that people are sent up in rounds to avoid overwhelmingly large crowds from forming on the open-air terrace. People flock to this spot because of its view of Grant Park, along with its range of specialty cocktails. If you want to sample its seasonally influenced dishes, a dinner reservation is necessary. However, if you’re looking to grab a drink with friends, walk-ins for the bar are welcome. The drinks average $16, and there is something here for everyone. Try the “No Bars” drink that consists of haku vodka, peach, persimmon, grapefruit, lemon and sparkling water, topped with an edible flower. The millennial aesthetic doesn’t stop with the edible flower garnish — the terrace is filled with modern decor, stone fireplace and a jaw-dropping view of the Bean and Lake Michigan. It’s the perfect summer spot for all Insta-enthusiasts.

Apogee

2 WEST ERIE STREET (RIVER NORTH)

On the twenty-sixth floor of Dana Hotel and Spa lives Apogee, a rooftop bar for the books. Rain or shine, Apogee is a great destination. The outdoor terrace is classy with a picturesque firepit and beautiful views, and the indoor lounge is equally aesthetic with its marble bar and floor-to-ceiling windows. Head over to this location for a full sensory experience. This rooftop bar is known for its method of serving drinks in unconventional vessels like giant glass mushrooms and seashells. The best part? The drinks taste just as good as they look.

drinks at Raised, An Urban Rooftop Bar

#SpoonTip to Don’t forget n in tio a rv se make a re ere’s th e us a advance bec -ins, ait for walk usually a w with a group and come tr y more so you can ta cock ils!

The J. Parker

1816 NORTH CLARK STREET (OLD TOWN)

Situated at the top of Hotel Lincoln, The J. Parker has the ultimate summer aesthetic. Covered in lush greenery and simplistic decor, the place offers a 360 degree view of Chicago. It serves customers on a first-come, first-served basis, so arrive on the earlier side to secure a coveted seat. Compared to other bars we visited, the cocktails were surprisingly on the cheap side despite its over-the-top appearance. For $13, the “Talking Melons” cocktail includes Chicago-distilled Ceres vodka, guanabana liqueur, chareau aloe liqueur, cantaloupe, lemon and melon-flavored La Croix, garnished with fresh fruits and herbs. The J. Parker is a relaxing, inviting atmosphere that is perfect for catching up with a friend or a night on the town.

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Chicago’s Can’t-Miss Donuts All the places to go on an epic Chicago donut tour. | By Sophie Rodosky

Hot take: Chicago donuts are becoming almost as iconic as deep dish pizza. The Windy City bursts with these doughy choices. From traditional types (glazed, I haven’t forgotten about you) to wildly unconventional flavors, the Chicago donut scene impresses taste buds. If you are on the hunt for a fun, carb-filled weekend, look no further. With a little help from Chicago Eater, Thrillist Chicago and Powered by Doughnuts, I’ve made it my mission to compile a list of must-try donut spots to hit if you’re headed downtown.

BOMBOBAR

West Loop & Old Town, bombobar.com BomboBar serves up an array of delicious bomboloni, a type of holeless Italian donut that is infused with various fillings (which you get to squeeze into your donut yourself from cute mini bottles).

What to try:

Traditional: Original, Vanilla Bean Custard Unconventional: S’mores, Gold Chocolate Mini Bombo

DELIGHTFUL PASTRIES

Jefferson Park, Old Town & the Loop’s French Market, delightfulpastries.com

DINKEL’S BAKERY

Lakeview, dinkels.com

Dinkel’s is a family-owned German bakery that’s been around since 1922 and offers mouthwatering German and American-style goodies.

What to try:

Traditional: Chocolate Donut, Assorted Paczki Unconventional: Walnut Maple Syrup, Blueberry Donut with Lemon Glaze

Delightful Pastries is a traditional European-style bakery serving up classic Paczki (polish donuts) and other baked goods like bread, danishes and cookies.

What to try:

Strictly the classics: Paczki with plum jelly, raspberry jelly, or custard

DO-RITE DONUTS

Wrigleyville, Water Tower Place, West Loop, Streeterville & Loop, doritedonuts.com

DAT DONUT

East Chatham, datdonut.com Dat Donut is a neighborhood staple that’s been around for over twenty years and is known for its famously giant “Big Dat” donut.

What to try:

Traditional: Glazed Donut, Apple Fritter Unconventional: Big Dat, Caramel Donut

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A fun, indulgent shop that will fulfill all your fried-food dreams, Do-Rite offers fried chicken sandwiches and heavenly donuts, which come in a variety of classic and over-the-top flavors.

What to try:

Traditional: Cinnamon Old Fashioned, Vanilla Bean Glazed Unconventional: Candied Maple Bacon, Vegan Orange Olive Oil

PHOTOS BY CAMILLE BILODEAU + GIANNA CHAN

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DOUGHNUT VAULT

River North & West Loop, doughnutvault.com

FIRECAKES

River North, Lincoln Park, Oak Park & Loop, firecakesdonuts.com Firecakes is an outrageously decadent spot offering classic and innovative donuts, as well as a host of crazy-good donut ice cream sandwiches.

Listed as one of America’s best donut shops by Food and Wine, Doughnut Vault offers a few popular flavors (both traditional and unusual) that quickly sell out on busy days.

What to try:

Traditional: Buttermilk Old Fashioned, Glazed Chocolate Unconventional: Glazed Chestnut, Matcha Old Fashioned

What to try:

Traditional: Valrhona Chocolate Iced, Sprinkle Donut Unconventional: Butterscotch Praline, Meyer Lemon

STAN’S COFFEE & DONUTS

Lakeview, Wicker Park, West Loop, Streeterville, Magnificent Mile & Millennium Park, stansdonuts.com Originating in LA, this now-iconic spot offers an amazing variety of decadent donuts, filled, glazed, and everything in between.

What to try:

Traditional: Glazed Twist, Powdered Sugar Cake Unconventional: Biscoff Banana Pocket, “Le Stan” Croissant Donut

WEST TOWN BAKERY West Town, River North, & Wrigleyville, westtownbakery.com

OLD FASHIONED DONUTS

Roseland, facebook.com/Old-Fashioned-Donuts-Inc This classic neighborhood spot has been owned and operated by its owner, Mr. B, since 1972. True to its name, Old Fashioned Donuts serves up mostly classic flavors, but with a few fun twists.

What to try:

Traditional: Apple Fritter, Bowties Unconventional: Texas Donut, Blueberry Donut

SOMETHIN’ SWEET DONUTS Belmont Cragin, somethinsweetdonutschicago.com

West Town Bakery is a sustainable business committed to sourcing local ingredients. It’s also very allergy-friendly and offers a variety of baked goods, including cupcakes, brownies, cookies and, of course, donuts.

Somethin’ Sweet is an adorable sandwich, bakery and donut shop that sells a variety of affordable donuts in lots of shapes, sizes and mouthwatering flavors.

Traditional: Chris P Cream, Vanilla Cake Unconventional: Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola, Apple Butter Doughssant

Traditional: Chocolate or Vanilla Bismark with Custard, Glazed Bismark Unconventional: Devil Food Donut, Maple Bacon Donut

What to try:

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The Best (& Worst) Food Fads There’s a reason we don’t put meat in gelatin anymore. By Gabby Cano Earlier this month, I attended a surprise party for a friend, and it was a ’70s-themed event complete with a disco ball. Channeling my inner Cher, I opted for straight hair with a sleek center part, a fitted halter top and some bell bottom jeans. I showed up eager to embrace the decade known for its color-changing mood rings, station wagons and the rise of The Beatles. The party lived up to its theme, filled with funky music and bold hair. However, it missed a key element (and easily the most important): the food. What did people like to eat back in the day? Was there a kombucha craze or a societal obsession with avocado toast? These days, the latest food fads and trends involve celery juice and McDonald’s All Day Breakfast Menu. I did some digging on the trusty internet to compile a list of fads, including some of the nastier ones, in my taste buds’ opinions.

But first: is there a difference between a food fad and a food trend? I’ve been cluelessly using the two words interchangeably prior to writing this article. Back in 2016, Forbes attempted to tackle the issue of distinguishing between the concept of a trend versus a fad. Summed up, a trend is identifiable and explainable. Food products on trend usually align with lifestyle trends (think healthy eating) and slowly rise in popularity. Fads are more in-the-moment and eventually fizzle out. The fad gets its 15 minutes of fame, but it rarely sticks in society after the initial appeal and spike in sales. Some concepts start as fads and develop into trends that live on. Medill Professor Gerry Chiaro knows a thing or two (or 40) about trends and fads in the food industry. With years of marketing experience at food and restaurant brands including Pizza Hut, McDonald’s and TGI Fridays, Chiaro recognized several trends that he emphasized through menu innovation and product development. “With TGI Fridays, the menu products aligned with trends like the internationalization of flavors and healthy foods with bright flavors. Brands that visualize long term will invest in trends.” While brands see trends as an investment, fads can also be capitalized on for a short-term profit. “During my time at TGI Fridays,” Chiaro says, “the company attempted to jump on the fad of mini desserts. These bite-sized desserts were supposedly popular because they offered people a chance to indulge in multiple dishes.” After putting mini desserts on the menu, Chiaro claims that the fad flopped. “Consumers at our restaurants wanted to indulge in normal-portioned treats and were not interested in curbing their sweet tooths with smaller portions.” Sometimes fads are the right call, but most times they just allow companies to make a short-term buck. “Sometimes, fads can turn into trends so there’s a small chance that it will survive long term.” Now knowing that there is a pretty clear distinction between the two things, I’ve delved into the world of old fads and some that are currently thriving. Sit back, grab a matcha latte (Fad or trend? I guess time will tell) and enjoy.

Cheese Logs To kick things off, it’s worth mentioning cheese logs. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good cheese platter, but I’m glad this particular trend is in the past for the most part, These bad boys received their 15 minutes of fame back in the ’70s cocktail party scene. The base of these bites consisted of a mix of shredded cheddar, cream cheese, butter and Tabasco sauce. If you wanted to really stand out with your cheese logs, you’d add ingredients like chopped pickles, onions, pecans or sunflower seeds as a finishing touch. I’m glad we’ve moved past this fad as a society and transitioned to offering bowls of Doritos at parties instead. ILLUSTRATIONS BY JESSICA PARIDIS

Wine Coolers This bodacious bottled beverage was all the rage back in the ’80s when wine and beer sales pro Michael Crete first created the party cocktail after a year and a half of perfecting the recipe. The concoction was a mixture of citrus juices, white wine and club soda. Crete first sold it under the name “California Cooler,” and it was an instant hit. Soon wine coolers of all shapes, sizes and flavors flooded the market (think Seagram’s Wine Coolers that made a name for themselves in fridges across America). Apparently, the California Cooler sold 10 million cases in 1984, and the company produced roughly 1,600 bottles per minute to match the demand. Six years after its initial launch, this beverage accounted for roughly 20 percent of all wine sales in the United States. Sales topped one billion dollars annually. But since Bill Clinton’s 1992 inauguration, wine coolers have pretty much gone extinct. Vanished without a trace. Now society has moved on to bigger and better things, like White Claw Hard Seltzers and frosé.

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Dippin’ Dots In my limited experience attending professional baseball and soccer games during my preteen years, this ice cream snack was a staple. Invented by a Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduate back in 1988 named Curt Jones, Dippin’ Dots was created by flash freezing ice cream mix in liquid nitrogen. If you’re wondering why you haven’t seen this “futuristic” ice cream in grocery stores, it’s because stores cannot meet such extreme cooling requirements (temperatures below -40 degrees Fahrenheit). While its presence was strong at venues including stadiums, shopping malls and theme parks, in 2011 the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Its lender, Regions Bank, claimed it had been trying to foreclose on Dippin’ Dots for over a year. In 2012, however, the ice cream brand was purchased by a company called Chaparral Energy (owned by father-son duo Mark and Scott Fischer). Still, it’s apparent that this so-called “ice cream of the future” isn’t doing too well lately. Sometimes ice cream can’t fix everything, I guess.

Space-Age Snacks With certainty, pretty much all children love outer space and snacks. If you were a kid during the 1960s, ‘70s and 80s, you most likely went crazy for all space-themed foods. When Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon back in July 1969, the general public went crazy for all things astronaut. Including the powdered orange-flavored drink called Tang. Ever heard of it? I didn’t think so. This is the ultimate fad flop. People believed that this drink was created specifically for the space program, but it wasn’t. It was simply a travel drink sold to consumers by General Foods. It was the advertising campaign that featured astronauts drinking the beverage that caused the public to go wild for it. Another wildlypopular space-age snack were Pillsbury’s Space Food Sticks. These dehydrated treats came in a variety of flavors like caramel and chocolate mint, and they actually made it to space — astronauts ate Space Food Sticks! Eventually, Pillsbury dropped the “Space” from the product’s name. “Food Sticks” did not last much longer after that, and snacking on treats that astronauts liked died out.

Fondue Undoubtedly, fondue is one of the best fads to come out of the twentieth century. And we owe it all to the Swiss. While they’ve been fondue-ing it up since the 1700s, the dish didn’t make its entrance into America until the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Visitors of the event swarmed the Alpine restaurant to investigate this foreign concept of dipping hunks of bread in vats of warm, gooey cheese. It’s safe to say fondue took off in America, and although the exact origin of chocolate fondue is not known, people credit Chef Konrad Elgi of New York’s Chalet Swiss restaurant. Apparently, in 1964 Elgi developed the chocolate variation as a dessert fondue. Fondue parties gained popularity within the next decade, and for good reason. What’s not to love about dipping various bites into pots of warm cheese (or chocolate)? Although fondue is still around and adored today, the dish was a defining moment for the food culture in the ’70s. It’s a fad that lasted beyond its short life expectancy, and it’s slowly turned into a lasting trend.

Zoodles It would be foolish of me to not discuss this veggie-tastic fad that’s happening nowadays. The low-carb substitute to traditional pasta is all the rage now. Even fast casual chain restaurant Noodles and Company has its own take on the fad with its two takes on zoodles: Shrimp Scampi and Spicy Peanut Sauté. Also referred to as zusketti and zuttuccine, zoodles (if you don’t know by now) are simply zucchini that are spiralized to resemble noodles. It’s a great way for people to swap out those carbs while boosting your daily dose of veggies. It also boasts a pretty nutritional portrait: They are rich in antioxidants (think manganese), and their dietary fiber helps to lower cholesterol and promote digestion. Additionally, the magnesium and potassium help reduce risk of heart attacks while lowering blood pressure. The health benefits are impressive, and this fad definitely aligns with the trend of eating healthier today. Don’t get me wrong, I adore a plateful of these spiralized guys — but what ever happened to enjoying a fat bowl of the real stuff?

Gelatin When you hear the word “gelatin,” most people think of JELL-O. I don’t blame you. JELL-O was a large part of my dessert regimen as a child. However, gelatin was actually known for its presence in main courses during the 1950s. Yes, main courses. People were mixing it with meat, olives and mayonnaise. (If you’re a nauseous, hungover mess right now, you should probably stop reading.) Gelatin salads were all the rage at parties. There was even a celery-flavored gelatin that featured chopped celery, pimento olives and cheese. If that’s not gross enough to you, lime-flavored gelatin mixed with mayonnaise, cucumber and canned tuna also made an appearance at this time. If you were feeling traditional, you’d go for an unflavored gelatin and simply throw in some turkey, chicken, carrots and green beans. Yum. It’s safe to say, I think we’ve all realized that gelatin needs to stick to strawberry JELL-O and refrain from starring as the main course during dinner parties.

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PHOTOS BY GIANNA CHAN

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Cooking From Seed to Table

At Next of Kin, Chef Marco Bahena highlights the seasons of Evanston. By Zoe Malin

On weekday afternoons, Next of Kin’s café is buzzing. People stop in to grab a cup of soup or a latte during their lunch break, and are out the door in ten minutes. A few steps away in Next of Kin’s main dining room, others opt for a sit-down brunch. They indulge in sticky monkey bread with toffee sauce while engaging in conversation. Among patrons’ chatter, Chef Marco Bahena’s voice is heard chatting with customers. He tells them about the farm that grows the vegetables in their salad, or about how the bread they’re about to eat is produced by Hewn, an award-winning Evanston bakery.

beautiful main dining room, but I also need to serve people who want something easy.” Next of Kin’s café has a self-serve salad bar, coffee bar and pre-made grab-and-go items. Bahena said it has adapted to how clientele use the space, as people have requested more prepared items. He developed a buffalo chicken sandwich, sesame tahini cauliflower fried rice bowl and an entire menu of avocado toasts specifically for the café.

Bahena is the head chef behind Next of Kin, which opened in February 2018. He is passionate about what he does and values building relationships with the restaurant’s regulars, as well as firsttime diners. “It’s been so cool to build a community with the people who live in Evanston,” Bahena says. “And people we work with in the food industry are a huge part of that community, too.” Bahena, a Chicago native, was involved in the creation of Next of Kin before blueprints were drawn for the kitchen he now cooks in every day. After living what he calls “the culinary dream” — working at Michelin Star restaurants in Spain and France, as well as esteemed establishments in Chicago and Nantucket — Bahena found L3 Hospitality Group in 2017. The group was planning to open Next of Kin at the time, and Bahena got in on the ground floor. “This was the first time I’ve been involved in a restaurant from step one,” Bahena says. “I feel like I can really say that this is my kitchen, this is my home.” From the beginning, the concept for Next of Kin was greatly focused on serving the Evanston community. Bahena and the team at L3 Hospitality Group wanted to bring something different to the city, in addition to highlighting the chef’s international and coastal influences in a causal way. Bahena knew he would be serving mostly college students and families, and thus, Next of Kin’s dual-concept was born. “I thought it would be really clever to have a main dining room for a full-service restaurant, and a café side for lunch,” Bahena says. “Often, people are looking for a quick lunch, and I want to have a

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The biggest feat for any chef, however, is creating their restaurant’s main menu. Bahena thought long and hard about what to serve at Next of Kin. He nailed down some dishes in a day, while others took several weeks to perfect.

The number one thing that stands out on Next of Kin’s menu is its vegetable selection. Bahena believes “the future is green” and having more vegetable-focused options is imperative to environmental sustainability.

“There are definitely times I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and been inspired by arugula,” Bahena says. “But the biggest challenge is balancing what the clientele wants and the crazy things a chef wants to serve.”

Bahena was inspired to work closely with local farmers after attending the MAD Symposium in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the summer of 2018. The event is run by Chef René Redzepi, the mastermind behind the Michelin two-star restaurant, Noma. Bahena said the experience was “mind-blowing.”

Bahena developed the framework for Next of Kin’s menu around what he knew about going out to dinner with his family. He said his mom would opt for a seafood dish, his dad would order steak, his brother would want something out-of-the box, and he would be drawn towards the chef’s special. This framework translated to needing an array of dishes on Next of Kin’s menu, including plates for sharing, dishes at various price points and allergy-friendly items, too. “It’s so important for there to be food for everyone here, and for people to eat here and feel safe to do so,” Bahena says.

“The symposium gathers chefs from across the world and lets them share ideas, learn from one another, and take concepts home with them,” Bahena says. “It basically tells chefs, ‘let’s grow together.’” At the event, Bahena was introduced to The Farm of Ideas, founded by Chef Christin Puglisi. The Farm of Ideas is a plot of land in Denmark that a team of chefs drives to every morning to harvest vegetables. The chefs then bring the goods back to their restaurants and base that day’s menu around what the farm provides them with.

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It’s the epitome of the phrase “farm to table.” The Farm of Ideas deeply influenced Bahena, motivating him to showcase local produce at Next of Kin. He discovered Evanston’s outdoor farmers market prior to the MAD Symposium, and when he returned from the event, everything that followed fell into place. After getting to know different vendors at the farmers market, Bahena felt as though he and the owners of Lake Breeze Organics—a farm in Michigan—were “speaking the same language.” He took their relationship a step further. In December 2018, Bahena partnered with Lake Breeze Organics to incorporate as much of its fresh produce into his menu as possible. Danika Proctor, co-owner of Lake Breeze Organics, gave Bahena her seed catalogs so he could select exactly what he wanted the farm to grow for him. Bahena believes this gives Next of Kin the most unique selection of vegetables in Evanston. It also allows him to cook from seed to table, taking farm to table one step further.

Next of Kin has now been open for over a year and continues to grow. Taking the restaurant from an idea to a reality was a learning experience for Bahena, one he said enabled him to “build an experience through great product.” He is constantly connecting with patrons in-person and through social media, and seeing people enjoy his food together makes him proud to say that he is the chef of Next of Kin. “People could go anywhere to eat, but they choose to eat here with us,” Bahena says. “They choose to trust us to feed them and share a good meal. That is community through a restaurant.” If you’ve never dined at Next of Kin, Bahena encourages you to stop in and treat yourself to brunch one day after classes. He says the restaurant is not “fancy” and definitely not just a place to take your family during parents’ weekend. The chef describes Next of Kin as an approachable and all-around fun place. And with that, the chef has three words for you: “Honey butter fries.”

“I have vegetables no one else has because Lake Breeze grows them only for me,” Bahena says. “You cannot get more seasonal than this.”

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Silencing the Stigma Around

SPAM

Spam is quite literally spiced ham, which sounds pretty harmless, right? But walk up to almost anyone on the street and they’ll shrink back in fear at the mention of it. By Princie Kim Type “spam.com” into your web browser and the first thing you’ll see are the four bolded words “Sizzle Pork And Mmm.” That’s a phrase that you’ll almost never hear an American outside of Hawaii say, especially the “Mmm” part.

According to the Spam Company, Hawaiians alone consume about 7 million cans of Spam per year. The 2019 U.S. Census reports that Hawaii’s population is roughly 1.43 million, which means that Hawaii consumes almost five times the amount of Spam as there are residents.

Even upon hearing the word Spam, the typical American reacts with melodramatic disgust. American culture has attached such a strong stigma to this meat product that it has been branded as literal junk food. Because of this deep-seated public opinion, it comes as a surprise to many when they hear that Spam is highly valued in other parts of the world. In places like Hawaii, the Philippines and South Korea, to name a few, Spam is a staple in the regional population’s diet and is used in a variety of their cultural dishes.

The Hawaiian love for Spam is obvious. But if those numbers aren’t proof enough, the state holds a yearly food festival called Spam Jam in Waikiki during the last week of April. The long stretch of Kalakaua Avenue is closed off to traffic to host the event. The street is transformed into a multitude of tents where local restaurants serve their own unique small plates of Spam and visitors can enjoy different forms of Spam-centric entertainment.

History explains both the American (excluding Hawaii) aversion to and other cultures’ fondness of Spam. After its invention in 1937 by Hormal Foods, the United States relied heavily on Spam as a viable food source for troops during World War II. As the Allied army’s food supply wore thin, Spam became crucial to American soldiers’ diets. It was one of the few sources of protein that could withstand the long shipment periods from the States to bases abroad. Even though soldiers relied on Spam for sustenance, having to eat it for every meal caused a backlash against the canned meat. The negative light cast on Spam by U.S. soldiers during the wartime period lasts to this day. Spam also became prevalent in Hawaii, the Philippines and South Korea as a result of wartime necessity. (This was during World War II for Hawaii and the Philippines and the Korean War for South Korea.) However, these places had the complete opposite response from the United States. Residents regarded Spam as a precious commodity that was saving them from near-certain starvation. Thus, the perception around Spam was marked with respect and gratitude, and naturally the product became a prime ingredient of these places’ cuisines.

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Next to poke, probably the most iconic Hawaiian food is musubi, the popular snack that consists of a grilled layer of Spam on top of a block of rice and encased in a seaweed wrapping. Enjoyed by kids and adults alike, musubi is just as likely to be found inside of a second grader’s lunch box as it is in the hands of a snacking businessman. Spam is such an integral part of Hawaii’s food culture that even McDonald’s incorporated Spam on menus with offerings that are exclusive to the islands. Items such as the Spam McGriddle or the Spam, Eggs and Rice Platter are McDonald’s way of tapping into the local palate. The fact that one of the largest commercial food giants found it necessary to add Spam to their menu is a testament to how central the product is to locals’ daily lives. The love for Spam is also strong in the Philippines. Along with its wartime background, there used to be the impression among Filipinos that products imported from Western countries have a level of prestige over local Asian goods. As a result, Filipinos have come to associate Spam with this special status. This idea, coupled with its introduction to the Philippines during a period of wartime starvation, is what lifted Spam to its glorified position among the Filipino population.

Entrée A typical way that Filipinos eat Spam is in the dish called spam-si-log for breakfast, which a plate of fried Spam, eggs cooked any style and fried rice. It’s essentially the Filipino version of the two-egg breakfast plate found at any American diner with Spam and fried rice as substitutes for the bacon and hash browns. Not limited to the morning, Filipinos love to eat Spam at any time of the day. The most popular way is the simplest — slices of pan-fried Spam with plain steamed rice. Spam also has a strong presence in South Korea. Koreans consider Spam to be a staple luncheon meat, just like how Americans view turkey breast or ham as standard deli meats. Rather than associating Spam with a specific dish like Hawaii and the Philippines do with musubi or spam-si-log, Koreans use Spam as a more flexible ingredient that can be added into any meal. One might find it floating in a bubbling pot of kimchi stew or finely diced up and folded into a Korean-style omelet. If any Korean dish is missing a salty, meaty element, Spam is the go-to addition.

are more repulsive since they are not removed and eaten with the hot dog meat. There is a reason why Hawaiian, Filipinos, Koreans and people from other cultures love to eat Spam. After all, they would not eat something that they believe does not taste good. Spam deserves a re-evaluation in America that is detached from its historical bias and present stereotypes. If given a chance, maybe Spam can go from reviled to relished in the U.S. like it is in other cultures around the world.

People from these cultural backgrounds who enjoy eating Spam often find themselves at odds with the negative stereotypes of Spam in the United States. For Rachel Kwak, a Northwestern sophomore who grew up in a Korean household where Spam is eaten regularly, Spam is a just delicious form of pork that happens to be sold in a can. Reflecting on her experiences eating Spam, Kwak recalls being met with judgment whenever she eats or even talks about Spam around others. “When I was little, Spam and rice would be my favorite meal to bring to lunch,” said Kwak “but it was also my worst meal because my friends would always judge and say ‘Ew, you really eat that?’” These clashing perceptions of Spam call into question the validity of the common American assessment of the meat product as “poor people’s food” or “trashy.” A majority of people who claim that Spam is repulsive have never tasted it themselves. The fact that Americans are not willing to give Spam a try plays a major role in supporting the negative stigma around it. “They just don’t know how to eat it,” Kwak says. “They’re thinking that we open up the can and scoop it out raw with a spoon. Like no, you have to cook it. We cut it. We saute it. We put it in stews. People don’t try to see the versatility of it.” The quickness to dismiss Spam without fair reason and based solely on stereotype proves how strongly imbued the negative image of Spam is in American minds. It is surprising that Americans are not turned off to hot dogs the same way they are Spam. When comparing the two, they have almost everything in common. They are both pink in color, are both a mixture of pork product and are both processed with chemicals to make the meat last. The only apparent differences are in shape and packaging. Many Spam haters claim that the gelatinous layer surrounding the meat is the main reason for their aversion. However, they fail to recognize that the gelatinous parts are not consumed and are discarded when Spam is cooked. The same argument can be flipped against these anti-Spammers. If the gelatin around Spam is so disconcerting to them, why are they not disturbed by the casing around hot dogs? Following their line of reasoning, hot dog casings PHOTOS BY LAUREN LEE

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Dessert

Well Bread

Meet Matthew Jones, founder of Bread Ahead Bakery & School. By Tessa Kauppila In the bustling Borough Market in London, people stand in long lines for a caramel-, seasalt- and honeycomb-filled donut, a loaf (or four) of golden sourdough bread, or a dense cheese and olive focaccia from Bread Ahead Bakery & School. Founder Matthew Jones hands me a hairnet and leads me right into the heart of the action: Bakers are rolling out freshly baked donuts in sugar(over 1,000 are churned out a day!), and croissants are cooling by the dozen. In just a week, 10 tons of flour and half a ton of butter will be used to make treats for Bread Ahead’s three — and soon to be four — locations. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

PHOTOS BY TESSA KAUPPILA

what were you thinking when you started bread ahead in 2013? I didn’t just want to do a wholesale bakery. I wanted it to have a very public front. I like people being in the business. And that’s really why we opened the school. When we were working on the market stalls, people were always asking questions, and I thought, “Why don’t we just build an environment where we can really teach them and show them?”

What kind of students take these courses? Are they bakers already or more novice? Really mixed. We have different bits of the business for different customers. The customers who come into our school and the customers who buy donuts are different people. I like to have something for everyone, so we can encompass the whole society. What can happen, with food especially, it can become quite elitist and exclude a lot of people. We have something for everyone.

What’s unique about British baking as opposed to French or American baking? British baking is still emerging. We certainly have taken a lot of influence from Europe and North America. The Brits generally are quite timid with their baking. For example, if you go to France or America, you see bread that is actually quite hard-cooked, dark and crusty, almost burnt. But that’s because that’s the flavor. They get it over there. In England, that’s still a bit of a new thing. A lot of people are like, “Ooo, it’s burnt,” and are quite fussy. I think the Americans and the Europeans are much more adventurous with their palette, so we have to bear that in mind.

Dessert

How do you introduce new products to people who are used to the same things? Instagram is a good way of getting stuff out there. But really, just put it in the market stall. You will very quickly see if it works or not. On Instagram, some things just get so much gravity. I did those pistachio donuts, and they were huge. People really engaged with it. If you look at our insights on who is following us, the age range is young and 74% female. It’s really interesting because donuts, for example, a lot of the audience is young girls. Donuts are really rich; there are a lot of calories. You would imagine people being fat, but it’s not that at all.

What is next for Bread Ahead? I’ve taken a bit of inspiration from my cousins across the pond. I like the ambition of the Americans. We are in the process of doing a really big site in Wembley at the moment. It’s 11,000 square-feet. It’s a restaurant, a bakery and a store, all in one place. It’s a massive project that’ll be done in September.

What do you want people to take away from their experience at Bread Ahead? I want them to have great flavors. I want them to have learned something. I always say to people in our baking courses that we’re not gonna make them into superstar bakers in one day. Everytime you interact with us, I want there to be a little step up. Always one step up the ladder, maybe two. There’s always an opportunity to learn.

Dessert

Nama-Stay for a Beer One brave writer tries not to boot during brewery yoga. By Aine Dougherty

There were quite a few factors working against me on this bright, crisp, almost-spring Sunday morning. First of all, I was hungover and running on just a few hours of sleep, and I still hadn’t quite kicked last week’s head cold. Sniffling and stumbling, I made it halfway down my apartment’s steps until I realized I had forgotten my yoga mat. Great start. Eventually, I ended up in Avondale, waiting outside in the painfully shining sun with two dozen millennial women (and a couple men) who all looked like they got quite a bit of use out of their brightly colored mats and Lululemon activewear. Meanwhile, this marked the first time I’d exercised in months. What was I even doing here with these chipper hipsters? One word: beer. Finally, at 11 a.m., the doors to Revolution Brewing Taproom opened and we surged inside, scrambling to secure a spot in the airy space lined with craft beer-filled barrels. The slightly sour smell of

fermentation hit my nostrils, further reminding me of the fact that we were in a brewery. One of Chicago’s finest, to be exact. Revolution is one of a growing cohort of local breweries offering yoga classes, from South Side brewpub Open Outcry’s rooftop Vinyasa to Evanston-based Temperance Trikonasana. Other Windy City hosts include Off Color Brewing, Metropolitan Brewing and Great Central Brewing Co. For $25, I received an hour of yoga, a beer to sip on during class and a ticket for a free beer in the taproom after we finished sweating it out. Revolution, however, is one of the only spots in the city that actually offers you a brew while you move (other classes save the drinking for once everyone’s shoes are back on, which honestly makes sense). As a newbie craft beer fan, I was intrigued by this seemingly counterintuitive trend. Why do people love this so much? I felt like, after one sip of these (occasionally powerful) craft concoctions, I’d probably fall straight out of tree pose, face-down on my mat. I knew I had to test it out for myself.

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PHOTOS BY AINE DOUGHERTY

In the line to check in at Revolution, the women behind me chattered away. “I was going to say I’m excited for yoga, but I like beer better,” said one. “I hope I don’t throw up,” another chimed in. “I don’t know what the hell I signed up for.” I made a mental note to stay far away from this bunch, until their companion actually made a decent point: “If we’re drinking beer, it can’t actually be that intense, right?” Let’s hope so. As I settled into my chosen spot and attempted to imitate all the stretching going on around me, I realized that I was missing one crucial element — a friend. Clearly, the intersection of beer and yoga makes for an extremely social environment, and all the smiling and laughing around me made me wish I’d begged one of my roommates to come with me. I wondered if the rest of the group thought I was a serious yogi, too dedicated to my craft, and my craft beer, to chat. I have to laugh.

would direct us to pause and take a sip of beer, and occasionally we would thrust our cans high above our heads in mountain or chair pose. The carbonation, however, was not such a great mix with the ab work and the flow sequences, featuring several different moves in quick succession. I honestly came to dread the words, “High to low plank, and let’s meet in downward dog!” I’m pleased to report, though, that I did not fall over while wobbling on one leg, and nor did anyone else. But my mouth did fall open when our instructor nonchalantly climbed up on top of a few barrels to demonstrate some of the balance moves. I joke, but despite my congested sinuses, the breath work actually did help me feel “grounded” and calmer, and it felt good to sweat out some of last night’s vodka. The novel addition of the beer had everyone giggling, and after every tough sequence, we’d “cheers our neighbor” with a smile, forming a happy and ever-so-slightly tipsy community by the end of the hour. I just have one final complaint — as we all know, beer is a diuretic. I had to pee so bad by the end of the class that I could barely enjoy savasana, my bladder distracting me from that coveted state of total relaxation before we all said “Namaste.” After our detox, I got ready to retox.

But seriously, I was nervous, beer or no beer. My complete lack of upper body strength — and lower, come to think of it — and queasy stomach from last night’s antics had me eyeing our first can of Revolution’s Every Day-Hero IPA warily. Luckily, it tasted nice and mild, a bit fruity, with a thankfully low ABV of just 4.3 percent. I cracked it open as our instructor shouted cheerily, “Get ready to flow and drink!” Everything was fairly straightforward, nothing I hadn’t seen before in hot yoga classes in high school. Every so often, our fearless leader

Post-class drink ticket in hand, I ordered a draft of Revolution’s Freedom of Speach, a drinkable, peachy sour brew. I found a comfortable spot to people watch in the taproom space, modeled after a German beer hall and heavy on the dark wood. The fun, friendly atmosphere and refreshing craft beer after the workout made for a unique start to my Sunday afternoon, but I won’t lie — after using muscles I hadn’t used in quite a while, picking up my glass was a bit tough on my triceps. The workout never ends, I guess!

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