The Curious Traveler's referral blog

Traveling the original 1926 path of U.S. Route 66 between Chicago and Joliet, IL and sending you there

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Erik Estrada's CGHS: Celebrity Ghost Story

Erik Estrada’s CGHS: Celebrity Ghost Story

via Erik Estrada’s CGHS: Celebrity Ghost Story

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Erik Estrada's CGHS: Celebrity Ghost Story

Erik Estrada’s CGHS: Celebrity Ghost Story

via Erik Estrada’s CGHS: Celebrity Ghost Story

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Weekend special:  Wet rub for butterflied leg of lamb, rack of lamb & lamb chops

Weekend special:  Wet rub for butterflied leg of lamb, rack of lamb & lamb chops

One of my favorite things to grill is butterflied boneless leg of lamb.  I rarely make it unless it’s for a big family get-together, because I have a one-person household, but even then I consider grilled lamb with fresh, pencil-thin asparagus, tiny new potatoes and a salad of baby greens to be the ideal spring meal.  My fall-back position is lamb loin chops, which are on sale right now at our…

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Route 66 people:  Lou Mitchell’s Heleen Thanas remembered

Route 66 people:  Lou Mitchell’s Heleen Thanas remembered

Back after Thanksgiving while we were still partying with our friends and families over the long weekend, we were on holiday hiatus and missed something.  Mind you, it wasn’t at all well publicized; in fact, it happened in the background, under the radar.

Yesterday, I ran across the news while searching online for something else:  Heleen Thanas, doyenne of the famous Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant in…

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Route 66 events calendar for Illinois:  already, there's an update!

Route 66 events calendar for Illinois:  already, there’s an update!

We only posted our 2016 events calendar yesterday, fellow roadies.  No sooner did we do that, however, than there was a change … but hey, we warned you there’d be a few of those, right?  For a while, we were afraid that the Berwyn cruise nights might not happen this year, given that there’s been street construction along the Burlington commuter line.  However, we checked with the city of Berwyn,…

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Route 66 news flash:  The Berghoff will be sold -- but it's staying in the family

Route 66 news flash:  The Berghoff will be sold — but it’s staying in the family

Before you could say “Oh no, Mr. Bill!” momentary panic broke out when the Chicago Tribune announced yesterday that the Berghoff Restaurant and Café, a Chicago landmark, was to be sold – but then relief hit once we realized that it’s staying in the family.

Carlyn Berghoff, great-granddaughter of founder Herman Berghoff and CEO of the company that operates both the restaurant and Berghoff…

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Route 66 news: 2016 Illinois events calendar and trip advice

Route 66 news: 2016 Illinois events calendar and trip advice

Hello again, fellow roadies!  Most of you think the ‘official’ Route 66 related events begin every year in May.  Those of you who are hipper than that already started looking for things to do/see along the route in April.  Good for you!  But the truth is, you can travel this iconic American road trip at any time, during any season, and find things and people to see, places to visit, and yes,…

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Weekend special:  Chicago's own Shrimp de Jonghe

Weekend special:  Chicago’s own Shrimp de Jonghe

Our store has jumbo 16-20 count wild-caught, raw Gulf shrimp on sale this weekend (editor’s note:  by now, some of you have figured out where I work; after all, how many high-end grocery chains are there in greater Chicago?  But I digress).  That makes it the perfect time to make Shrimp de Jonghe.  it’s the oldest known dish associated with the city of Chicago, and unlike Chicago-style hot dogs,…

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Route 66 events reminder:  April 19th public art slideshow and lecture at Chicago Cultural Center

Route 66 events reminder:  April 19th public art slideshow and lecture at Chicago Cultural Center

Just a reminder:  my 90-minute lecture and slideshow about public art along Route 66in metropolitan Chicago is at 1pm next Tuesday over at the Chicago Cultural Center in the first-floor Renaissance Court.  It’s the best way to familiarize yourself with some of the sights along the route, starting right at the eastern terminus and Gateway to Route 66 at Jackson Drive and Michigan Avenue, next to…

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Sauces:  Au jus style gravy for standing rib roast and steaks

Sauces:  Au jus style gravy for standing rib roast and steaks

Okay, I lied … just a little:  you can use this sauce for almost any kind of beef, lamb or venison roast (and for steaks), the big exception being pot roast (you want something more appropriate for that).  But that butterflied and marinated leg of lamb that you’re going to grill this weekend?  Oh yeah.  You can use it for that.  Maybe that crown roast of pork you’re making for your dad’s…

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Special meals:  How to cook standing rib roast (aka 'prime rib')

Special meals:  How to cook standing rib roast (aka ‘prime rib’)

Most people have ham for Easter.  Yeah, we had some of that, but the star of the meal was standing rib roast – what most people think of as ‘prime rib.’  Given that Orthodox Easter isn’t until May and Passover is still a few weeks ahead, I figured maybe it was time to share my secrets for making a great rib roast. The term prime rib is very specific but a misnomer when used generically:  ‘prime’…

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Route 66 events:  Chicago talk April 19th on public art along Route 66

Route 66 events:  Chicago talk April 19th on public art along Route 66

We’re in the news again – well, yours truly is.  I’ll be giving a lecture and slide presentation on Tuesday, April 19th in downtown Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center on Michigan Avenue between Randolph and Washington Streets, right across from Millennium Park.  The topic will be “Public Art Along Route 66,” covering the route between its eastern terminus at Jackson Boulevard and Michigan…

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St. Patrick's Week extra:  Irish beef stew with Guinness stout

St. Patrick’s Week extra:  Irish beef stew with Guinness stout

Who, besides vegetarians, doesn’t like beef stew?  Irish beef stew flavored with Guinness stout is a classic, and a touch of Jameson’s Irish whiskey for deglazing won’t go amiss.  Very Gaelic indeed.  You’ll want plenty of freshly baked bread or warm rolls and lots of sweet Kerrygold butter to serve with this – people will want to mop up every last bit of the stout-flavored gravy.  It’ll all make…

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St. Paddy's Day special:  Colcannon with roasted corned beef, onions and carrots

St. Paddy’s Day special:  Colcannon with roasted corned beef, onions and carrots

Let’s say you’re making corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day, but you don’t want to make it the usual way by simmering it – you’re going to take that flat, remove some of the salt by soaking it first, then roasting it, and you don’t want to put the potatoes in the pan with it, just the carrots, and you’re skipping the usual way of making the cabbage, too, so that the whole house doesn’t smell of…

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How-tos:  how to cook corned beef brisket

How-tos:  how to cook corned beef brisket

It’s that time of year again.  About two weeks before St. Patrick’s Day, the bulk corned beef and prepackaged slabs begin to appear in every grocer’s meat case.   For 11 months of the year, most of us make do with sliced corned beef from the deli.  In March, however, shoppers suddenly want the real thing; call it a seasonal ritual or a tonic of sorts, something to mark the coming of spring. There…

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How-tos:  new ways to cook old favorites – Catfish

How-tos:  new ways to cook old favorites – Catfish

With more people eating fish and seafood these days, if only through Lent, home cooks are always looking for new twists on old stand-bys.  One of those stand-bys is catfish.  After all, it’s been around for a while … like since the late Cretaceous period (no wonder the poor thing needs a new outfit!).   I have to admit that I have no particular fondness for the Whiskered One;  I also don’t…

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Quick lists:  the many ways to prepare Gulf shrimp

Quick lists:  the many ways to prepare Gulf shrimp

We’re going to have shrimp on sale this weekend – BIG shrimp.   Oh, joy!   I just love shrimp – especially big, plump, pink Gulf shrimp.  Don’t you?  Can’t get enough of it. Yet when I’m tired at the end of a long day, I forget just how many ways there are to fix my favorite shellfish – many of them quick and easy.  Sometimes you just need a short list you can choose from to get you going in the…

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