The Chopping Block Cooking & Wine Blog

The Joy of Visiting Farmers Markets: A Chef's Perspective

As a chef, my heart beats faster at the mere thought of visiting a farmers' market. There's something truly magical about wandering through stalls brimming with fresh, vibrant produce, artisan goods, ...

Teaming Up with Driftless Prairie Meats and Market

Farmers market season is finally upon us. One of my favorite parts of shopping at the market is being able to meet the farmers and become familiar with where my food is coming from. I love that The ...

In Favor of Doing the Least

Ask anyone. Literally anyone! And you will hear from them that this is the best season to eat. It’s one of the things my grandma says the most these days, usually as she’s describing the corn she ...

How to Farmers’ Market

Fellow citizens of the Midwest, we have arrived. Summer is upon us, and so is the bounty of the legendary farmers’ markets. If you’re anything like me, you have them on your family Google calendar so ...

Farmers Market Season

I love this time of year. My garden is blooming, and the farmers markets all around Chicagoland are in full swing! It seems no matter where you live, there is a farmers’ market in nearly every ...

Cooking from the Farmers Market

I love farmers markets. Not only do you get access to the best tasting, seasonal produce picked at its peak of flavor, but it has traveled just a short time between the farm and market to get to you. ...

How to Master the Farmers Market

Farmers markets, along with breweries with giant patios, a lakefront that may as well be the ocean, and a skyline like no other make summers in Chicago worth the cold, hard winters we endure. If ...

Box of Plenty: The Many Benefits of a CSA

Often times home cooks will be curious about what makes restaurant food taste different from home cooked food. This is actually a very interesting question, and there is no simple answer, but an ...

5 Tips for Making the Most of Your Grocery Trips This Summer

If there’s one thing I hate, it’s that walk back from the grocery store when you went a teensy tiny bit overboard. You know exactly what I’m talking about: reusable grocery bags (go you for ...

To Market, To Market, We Go

It’s mid-summer in Chicago and the local farmer's markets are in full swing. Throughout the city – and in many suburban neighborhoods – you can find the freshest fruit, vegetables, bread, meat and ...