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No one can resist a good cheese ball

For years, the cheese ball has been my quiet party superpower. Whenever I’m hosting — or even lightly conscripted into bringing “something snacky” — it’s the dish people inevitably circle back to, buttery Ritz in hand, doing that little half-apology…
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A love letter to Chicago’s gravy bread

It had snowed seven inches the night before I decided to get gravy bread again — the most snow O’Hare had seen in a single day in decades. I felt like a real Chicagoan, trudging through drifts in snow boots,…
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Barcelona’s bold new food frontier

Hemingway once wrote, “And Barcelona. You should see Barcelona. It is all still comic opera… Barcelona makes you laugh.” He wasn’t wrong. The city has always marched to its own beat, a little louder, a little more irreverent than the…
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Costco sues the Trump administration

Costco has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over what it calls “unlawful” tariffs. The big-box retailer is the latest company to pursue legal action, joining a growing list of businesses and state agencies challenging the administration’s policies. What…
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Gift guide: Seasonal splurges for every table

Food and celebration go hand in hand, especially this time of year. Whether it’s a table piled high with roast meats and vibrant vegetables, a stack of decadent desserts, or a carefully curated cheese board, the holidays are all about…
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A better tuna melt, with a kick

I have this diner meal that calls to me every few months, and when it does, I essentially stop functioning like a normal adult until I’ve tracked down some facsimile of the thing: a tuna melt on rye, a pickle…
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Punch and nibbles, like “Sherlock”

During Thanksgiving week, from the soft neutral cocoon of my parents’ guest room, I burrowed into an impulsive rewatch of the BBC “Sherlock” — yes, the Benedict Cumberbatch era, all sculptural cheekbones and good outerwear. I’ve seen it enough times to carry…
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The fruity martini’s colorful comeback

Forget performative males — let’s talk about performative drinking. If you’ve opened Instagram anytime in the past two years, you’ve probably noticed that the martini has taken over. And not only is the drink everywhere, it has gone technicolor. What…
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Sports venues are going gourmet

When you think of typical game-day food, hot dogs slathered in ketchup and overpriced baskets of crinkle-cut fries come to mind. But at sporting events around the globe, food is getting fancy. Picture eating perfectly fried chicken nuggets topped with…
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