Unique Windy City Treats

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Every city has their own foods that you can only find by going there and the city of Chicago is definitely no exception to this. There are a lot of foods that are staples when you think about the Windy City like the famous Chicago deep dish pizza and Garret’s popcorn that helped put the city on the map when it comes to being a culinary hub. Now that these have been widely spread throughout the country there are more foods that are unique only to the city of Chicago. Here are some more great foods for you to try on your next visit to the city.

1. The Rainbow Cone at The Original Rainbow Cone located at 9233 S Western Ave. is one of the best spots to get ice cream in the city. The Rainbow cone is their signature menu item that is a variation of flavors that don’t seem as if they work together until you try it. The Rainbow cone is chocolate, strawberry, Palmer house, pistachio, and orange sherbet ice cream stacked on top of each other that will keep your taste buds on their toes.
2. The Mac at Cheesie’s is a late-night snack that has all of the college kids going crazy. The Mac is American cheese, Merkt’s cheddar and homemade macaroni and cheese on Texas toast with a Tomato soup dipping sauce. There are four locations throughout the city including a food truck that is available for catering orders.
3. Next, up would be the behemoth Marshmallow Sunday from Margie’s Candies at either location at the 1960 Western Ave. or the Montrose address. Margie’s is a true Chicago institution dating back to 1921. Sit in the same chair where gangster Al Capone enjoyed homemade ice cream and toppings. Marshmallow is the best addition to any one of Margie’s 13 ice cream flavors.
4. One of my personal favorites would definitely be the Italian beef from Portillo’ There are several locations throughout the city and no matter what time you go there will always be a long line of cars waiting to order at the restaurant. The Italian beef is thinly sliced and served on freshly baked Turano French bread. There are many ways to order an Italian beef sandwich. The standard sandwich is served by splashing a bit of our flavorful, secretly-spiced gravy on it. Some like their sandwich “dipped,” which means we dip the whole sandwich in our gravy. You can also order it “dry,” with very little gravy.

Taking your taste buds on a world tour

The city of Chicago is a big melting pot that a lot of people don’t see when they visit. With over half of the city being different ethnicities there are a lot of fusions of cultures in every part of the city. The city has a restaurant for every taste bud and palate so there is absolutely no reason for anyone to go hungry. These restaurants range from weird to ethnic and will definitely leave you wanting for more when you leave.

1. Vermilion– This is a Latin- Indian restaurant that fuses the two countries known for their spicy cuisines and comes up with a delectable combination that doesn’t disappoint. Two entrees that are a must try are the Chicken Tikka Masala and Tandoori Skirt Steak. For those who have different dietary needs, there are vegan options available and the desserts are absolutely to die for. This restaurant is located at 10 W Hubbard.
2. Parachute Chicago- This restaurant located at 3500 N Elston Ave is a Korean- New American fusion location located near the Avondale neighborhood. This restaurant is like down south cooking meets traditional Korean cuisine that has been driving its customers wild. The most popular dish is the Baked Potato Bing Bread. The potato bread is baked with bacon, scallions, and cheddar cheese and brushed with sesame oil before its skillet fried and oven baked.
3. The only restaurant in Chicago with “Macanese” food is Fat Rice. Their menu consists of a fusion of cuisine from Macau (the Portuguese province of China) along with Chinese and Portuguese if you are looking to try something new then look no further than the Arroz Gordo or “Fat Rice in English. The dish is similar to paella and is usually reserved for special celebrations in Macau. The bottom layer is made up of jasmine rice is mixed sofrito, chorizo, and salted duck and is topped with curried thighs, char siu pork, linquica sausage, jumbo prawns, manila clams, tea eggs, croutons, Portuguese olives, pickled chilies. Sauces (mushroom soy and diabo hot sauce) are served on the side. This located at 2957 W Diversy.
4. Grace- Grace is one of the top African restaurants in the city. Located in Uptown/Edgewater neighborhood this restaurant specializes in bringing traditional Ghanaian home cooking to the city of Chicago. Their fried plantains are to die for and the fufu and soup never disappoints.

The Wonderful uses of Coke

When you think of Coca-Cola you think of drinking soda. There are so many other ways that you can use this big-name soda that may even help you when getting ready for your next trip. The slight acidity that is in the soft drink makes it easy to wash away the corrosion on your car battery without reacting to the battery acid. Marie McGee, a certified mechanic, stated that Coca-Cola is one of the handiest tools for people who don’t have the money to pay full price for a mechanic. She also stated that you can use Coca-Cola to defrost a frozen windshield, as well as remove bugs and debris from the bumper of your car. Just always make sure to use warm water afterward to avoid messing up the car’s paint job. This will especially help out for any winter vacations that you may take.

Brighter Future for Tomorrow

Tomorrow’s Scientists, Technicians, and Manager’s (T.S.T.M) program helps high school and middle schoolers prepare for college. The program consists of eight different components to address the strengths and needs of the youth in the program. Many of the students have not been exposed to colleges and universities outside of the Peoria area. In order to provide them with other options for higher education, TSTM offers an Out-of-State field trip. Additionally, actual contact with individuals working in engineering, mathematics, science, and other related fields is provided through field trips, to research centers, universities, engineering firms, national meetings of scientific organizations, etc. The TSTM program also encourages students to fulfill a minimum of 20 hours of community service at the Tri-County Urban League and other designated locations within the city throughout the TSTM school year. The objective is to encourage students to give back to their community. This program thrives off of donations and government funding.  If you would like to support this program visit http://www.tcpul.com/donate.html

If you would like to participate in this program visit your local Urban League.

The Hidden Gems of Chicago

Food in the city of Chicago is definitely one of its best attributes when looking at the city. When you visit there are restaurants that will fit anyone’s taste and budget. Any restaurant in the city will have amazing food and even greater customer service but if you want to have the down-home there are only a few restaurants in the city that can give you great food as well leave feeling as if you are family with the employees. The employees at these restaurants you can really tell that they care about the customers that come through their doors. One thing that all of these restaurants have in common is the mild sauce. It’s said that these places have the best food and are some of the best places to get Chicago mild sauce.

One of the most down-home restaurants where you can order just about anything is Harold’s Fish and Chicken. Their menu has a wide variety of chicken, fish and the employees at this restaurant are always nice from the moment that you walk in the door until the moment that you leave. Their menu is always affordable, and you always leave you full and satisfied. Their customer service always makes you feel as if you are friends with the employees when you leave.

Another restaurant that gives you the same great customer service while also giving great food at a great price would be any Maxwell’s restaurant. At this American style restaurant, there is a wide variety of foods you can choose from as well. From a Chicago style hot dog all the way to Italian beef and chicken. Just like Harold’s this restaurant when you walk in you are greeted as if you have been friends with their employees your entire life. They will have a full conversation with you and make sure that you are happy from the moment you walk in the door until the moment that you leave.

In most Chicagoans opinion it is a lot better to go to restaurants like these instead of the big chain restaurants. KaNesha McGee, a Chicago native, describes the feeling that she gets from these restaurants as having a sense of family. Most natives will say that this is something that you just cannot get from big chain restaurants because there are always more rules and regulations around how to treat the customers that they lose sight of the personal effect that needs to come along with it.

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Stepping into Parenthood

A little over 4% of the US population identify with being homosexual and the number steadily increases every day. That means that there are 10.7 million LGBTQ adults in the U.S. This also means that there are Nearly 1.1 million LGBTQ people in the U.S. are married to someone of the same sex. That means, there are more than 547,000 married same-sex couples nationwide.

Planning for a family is definitely hard for any couple but when you in a same-sex relationship there is an added obstacle due to the fact of not being able to get pregnant the way that heterosexual couples can. For lesbian couples, there is the option of artificial insemination, surrogacy, or adoption. While for gay couples the options are fewer which would be surrogacy and adoption. Both of these options cost a lot of money that most couples do not have the meaning that they wish to start a family for the couples is left un-granted. A lot of places also have a lot of reservations when it comes to helping the LGBT community which makes it harder for these couples to achieve their goal of starting a loving family. Between 2 million and 3.7 million children under age 18 have an LGBTQ parent, and approximately 200,000 of them are being raised by a same-sex couple. There are two places that are standing above the rest when it comes to assisting the LGBTQ community with starting families.

Cryos bank is one of the largest sperm banks in the world that openly helps the LGBTQ community. Founded in 1981 Cryos holds the Guinness book of world records as being the largest sperm donor base in the world. Cryos has both egg and sperm donor samples for purchase for all situations whether if you decide surrogacy or insemination croys bank has a wide array of donors and information on both to fit your needs. Recipients can also choose if they would rather have their donor be anonyms or not as well. With their various social media accounts, Cryos bank makes it easy for recipients to get in contact with them and ask any questions that they may have about the donor process. Cryos takes pride in assisting the LGBTQ community with achieving their goals of starting healthy and happy families.

If the process of going through a sperm bank seems to be too stressful then Lifelong adoptions have got you covered. Specializing in connecting LGBT couples with the perfect adoptive child. Their sole goal is making sure that they keep the adoptive process for hopeful parents as affordable and easy as possible. They have a 24/7 service number to assist and answer any questions that the families may have. This agency specializes in living up to their name in helping parents create lifelong memories by best matching them the perfect child.

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The best-kept​ secret in Chicago

There is a secret sauce in the city of Chicago that its citizens hold near and dear to their hearts. This sauce can be found at any restaurant that serves chicken and fish. It’s a mix of barbecue sauce, hot sauce, ketchup, and a mixture of other spices and sauces that these restaurants keep secret from the outside world. Mild sauce is the most overlooked condiment in the history of this entire galaxy. The mainstream media has really dropped the ball on this. So, spreading awareness of this sauce is the next best thing.
From a person who absolutely loves mild sauce,​ the condiment is hard to explain to someone who has never had it before. This sauce is something that only people from Chicago or frequent the city know about. You can find it anywhere in Chicago and its suburbs.
People who know mild sauce swear by it as well. Charlotte Lyons, a ​former food editor of Ebony magazine, describes mild sauce as a combination of hot sauce, ketchup and barbecue sauce. Most people eat it on fish, chicken fries, and an array of other things. Gary Wiviott, pitmaster​ at Lincoln Park’s Barn & Company, ​guess mild sauce’s proportions are 5 parts barbecue sauce to 2 parts ketchup and 1-part hot sauce.
Honestly no one really even knows all of the ingredients of the mild sauce because it has been so heavily and secretly guarded for years. Most restaurants use a barbecue base for their mild sauce and continue on from there until they get the flavoring as close to it as possible. The taste can vary depending on where you go may it be Harold’s Chicken Shack, Sharks Fish, ​and Chicken, Uncle Remus, etc. KaNesha McGee, a Chicago native stated, I moved to Georgia from Chicago and there are a lot of places that claim to be Chicago style restaurants like Sharks or Harold’s Chicken Shack the food may be close to the original, but one thing remains the same with them all.
If you would like to try mild sauce yourself there are places all over the city that would serve the delectable sauce and would love to have you try it. Listed below are the four best places in the city and the most accessible restaurants in the city and suburbs that serve mild sauce.
1. Uncle Remus
2. Harold’s Chicken Shack
3. Nicky’s Grill and Yogurt Oasis
4. Shark’s Fish and Chicken

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Just Deal With It.

“The media portrays having depression as crying and going through all kinds of crazy stuff and being overly dramatic sad and I don’t feel that way, says Danielle Lovejoy as she speaks on how the media portrays people with mental health issues.
What most people know about mental health is from what they hear and see from social media and television which often times is painted in a negative light or are just plain wrong when it comes to dealing with mental health issues.
Kyle James, a Chemical Dependency Counselor for Coliseum Medical Center, stated “What is needed more now than ever is a more accurate representation of people with mental health issues. This will make it easier for people to speak on their issues without feeling as if they will be outcasts.”

One in four people in the world suffer from mental health issues but only a handful feel as if they can actually get the help that they need. You should never just have to just deal with your mental issues. Mental health should be just as important as a physical health.

If you feel as if you may hurt yourself or anyone else, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
They can also help with finding treatment centers in your area.