Columnist

What made the roaring 20's roar?

Published by admin on Tue, 10/20/2020 - 11:08am

Why it was the automobile, of course. It changed American in a way that nothing else, until that time did. And, when you think of it, it still is. It contributes to many of today's problems, climate change, fossil fuel production, lives lost by drunken drives just to name a few. In the 1920's the problems created by the auto were a bit more fundamental and local - getting from here to there.

Dessert drinks served up with just the right sweetness

Published by admin on Mon, 10/19/2020 - 9:09am

Hey, what's that chocolate Martini drink? You know the one, it's like a Brandy Alexander, only it's green. Or is it pink? This week we will decode the mystery of the “chocolate Martini” as we prepare three of the most popular after dinner drinks in all of mixology.

Taking the anti-Madigan route has its bumps

Published by admin on Sun, 10/18/2020 - 11:42am

After Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan appeared in all but actual name in ComEd's deferred federal prosecution agreement, Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn) was one of the first Democratic state Representatives to call on him to resign without the qualifying "if he did it" language.
And the freshman Democratic legislator has been breaking pretty much all precedent the past month or so by putting significant campaign money where her mouth is.

Wilmington woman Will County winner

Published by admin on Tue, 10/13/2020 - 10:40am

Another election day will soon be upon us, and as we go to the polls and look around we see women on the ballot, women serving as election judges and most important of all, women coming in to vote. As you are aware, it was not always so. Today we look at the first woman in Will County to hold an elected position.

Braidwood's theater scene in the 19th century

Published by admin on Tue, 10/13/2020 - 9:55am

Braidwood's 19th century social scene was not exactly what you would call “high class.” But nonetheless, Braidwood did have some other recreation than drinking in a saloon. There was the Music Hall, originally built as place for traveling vaudeville troops. Put on your bustle and dust off your top hat, we're going to the theater.

Exact measurements required for a Fogg Cutter

Published by admin on Mon, 10/12/2020 - 8:55am

There are a few cocktails by which every tiki bar or Polynesian restaurant is measured, and three of them were created by “Trader” Vic Bergeron in the 1940s. His most famous creation was the Mai Tai, followed by the Scorpion, and don't forget the curiously strong and complex Fog Cutter.

Madigan created this environment, yet refuses to cooperate

Published by admin on Sat, 10/10/2020 - 10:49am

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin is a former prosecutor, and that outlook on life has never really left him.
He's not big on a lot of criminal justice reforms, even standing up to his party's president to oppose the early prison release of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He was staunchly opposed to legalizing cannabis. I'm sure that House Speaker Michael Madigan's highly public legal troubles grate on Durkin to no end, as they would on almost any former prosecutor.

Over 100 years of help, the Will County Farm Bureau

Published by admin on Tue, 10/06/2020 - 11:03am

Just as teachers, mechanics, computer programmers, etc. have to go back to school to update their education using modern techniques and equipment, so does the farmer. Assisting the farmer in this for over 100 years is the Will County Farm Bureau. Let's see how they did it.

The role of reading in the miner community

Published by admin on Tue, 10/06/2020 - 11:01am

Our view of early Braidwood is a rough and ready town, full of saloons and fist fights. But that is perhaps only the most obvious activities that took place. Hidden away in a small room many early Braidwoodites were doing something which required peace and quiet. Tip-toe back into the past with us to look at this clandestine activity.
In April of 1876 we read the following in the Joliet Weekly Sun, “And now Braidwood wants a public library and reading room.” Yes, those rough and ready miners wanted a library. They wanted to read, who would have thought it?

Unwind with a La Floridita Daiquiri

Published by admin on Tue, 10/06/2020 - 10:39am

The essence of the classic Cuban Daiquiri is rum, sugar, lime juice. For over 100 years this proven combination has helped to beat the heat on those hot, humid summer days at Havana's La Floridita.
Despite the fact that the classic three-ingredient version of the Daiquiri is the “correct” version, the house Daiquiri at La Floridita adds a little something extra, and get this: it is served frozen.