Welcome warm weather with seasonal brews
I think we've finally hit the point in the year where we can keep our coats in the closet. The warmer weather not only means a change in outerwear, but a change in what we eat - and drink.
Chocolaty stouts and aggressively hopped ales are so last season; light ales and brews with fruity essence are the style of the day.
"It's the same thing you see with seasonal foods," says Anthony Norkus, craft and specialty brands manager for Louis Glunz Beer, Inc. "You want something light, crisp, refreshing."
This season has brought some exciting new beers to area liquor stores and bars.
Like Cerise from Michigan's Founder's Brewery. Made with the state's favored cherries, this release celebrates the season with ethereal notes as beautiful as the white blossoms from which it fruits.
Norkus also favors a mildly peachy Berliner Weiss from Dogfish Brewery in Delaware and a wheaty Blanch de Chamblay from Canada's Unibroue.
The beer is "a great interpretation of a Belgian white," Norkus says, with hints of orange and coriander. "It quenches your thirst, but leaves you craving more."
Book it: More that 250 recipes from area chefs and members of the Geneva Garden Club have been collected into a beautifully illustrated cookbook, "From Garden to Table."
The cookbook features recipes from restaurants including Fiora's, Movable Feast, Little Traveler, Niche, The Herrington Inn, Cocoa Bean and Mill Race Inn. World-renowned pastry chef and garden club member Alain Roby also contributed to the book.
Besides recipes, the book includes garden tips and tablescape ideas and suggestions for creating garden-inspired table settings.
Proceeds from $20 cookbook sales help fund scholarships for local students and support the club's mission to promote Geneva beautification. Look for books at this weekend's Gardenology at Scentimental Gardens, 428 W. State St., Geneva, and at the group's Antique and Garden Sale June 11-13, at 402 S. 6th Street.
You can also order online at genevagardenclub.com.
So you want to write a cookbook: Learn what it takes from experienced literary agent Lisa Ekus-Saffer and cookbook author Virginia Willis during their Cookbook Publishing 101 course from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, May 23, at The Chopping Block's Merchandise Mart location in Chicago.
Ekus-Saffer, literary agent since 2000 and publicist for award-winning titles including "The Splendid Table" and "The Cake Bible" and Willis, chef, food writer, and author of the critically acclaimed "Bon Appétit, Y'all, Recipes and Stories of Three Generations of Southern Cooking," will help aspiring authors navigate the exciting and challenging world of publishing.
The class aims to educate and inspire as it examines the publishing process from all angles and perspectives including how to locate and why you might want a literary agent, recipe research, writing, and testing and practical finances.
Tuition is $299 and registration is available at thechoppingblock.net. Participation is limited.
• Contact Food Editor Deborah Pankey at food@dailyherald.com or (847) 427-4524. Listen to her discuss food and restaurant trends during Restaurant Radio Chicago, 5-6 p.m. Saturdays on WIND 560 AM.