Chow Down Chicago: Good Eats from the Windy City

"Chicago mix" popcorn is the unlikely but surprisingly addictive combination of cheese popcorn and caramel corn. This perfect combination of sweet and salty makes it an irresistible snack. "Chicago mix"  popcorn originated at Garrett Popcorn, the city's most beloved popcorn-maker.   Garrett Popcorn Shops grew out of a Milwaukee-based family's competition to create the best caramel corn. Once the recipe was perfected, the first Garrett shop opened in Chicago's Loop at Madison and State in 1949. The family-run business soon added cheese popcorn to their offerings.  By the 1970s, it was common for customers to buy a bag of caramel corn and a bag of cheese popcorn and then ask for an extra empty bag to mix the two together. This tasty creation that marries sweet and savory flavors was nicknamed the "Chicago mix." Garrett took the cue from customers and started selling "Chicago mix" popcorn. In 2014, the company changed the name of its pop...

Chicago has many ties to the chocolate industry, making it a chocolatey town. Chicago's special relationship with chocolate can be traced back as far as the Columbian Exposition of 1893, which featured a chocolate pavilion, a cocoa mill, a 38-ft. chocolate statue, and German chocolate-processing machines on display. Milton Hershey bought one of these machines and used it to start a successful business you may have heard about. Chicago is also home to Fannie May chocolates, Frango Mints, and the Blommer Chocolate Company. H. Teller Archibald opened the first Fannie May candy shop on LaSalle Street in 1920. By the 1930s, the business grew to nearly 50 stores throughout the Midwest. Fannie May's Pixies, consisting of a winning combination of caramel, pecans, and chocolate, would become its most popular offering. Fannie May shops can still be found throughout the Chicago area.   In 1929, Marshall Field & Company introduced Frango Mints. These mint chocolate truffles were made ...

Mid-winter, especially in Chicago, is a time when we could use an extra holiday--something to lift our spirits and remind us that better days are coming. The Gaelic festival Imbolc fits the bill nicely. Celebrated on February 1 or 2, Imbolc marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.  The winter solstice (December 21) is the day when we get the least amount of daylight, and on the spring equinox (March 21), we get equal amounts of daylight and darkness. Imbolc marks the end of the darkest days of winter and heralds the coming of spring. And it doesn't rely on what some goofy groundhog has to say about the weather. Imbolc is a celebration of fire, purification, and new beginnings. Imbolc is a Celtic word that means "in the belly," and it refers to the lambs that will soon be born. It also refers more generally to the seeds in the earth that will spring forth into life with the changing seasons.  Imbolc is the day when the Irish Celtic goddes...