Erin H

Walking the red carpet is basically like walking a tightrope in front of your harshest critics, but Gabourey Sidibe has handled hers with class.

An ad for a DC grocery store welcomed Howard University students back from winter break with big savings on sushi!!! ...And a photo of a smiling white woman. As Howard is a historically (and famously and OBVIOUSLY) black university, the ad has critics' eyes rolling.

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Authorities called off the search for a woman missing and presumed dead who jumped in the Chicago River to save a friend who later died. [ more › ]

Chef Grant Achatz sent out a message on micro social networking site Twitter regarding his conflicted feelings about parents who brought an infant to Alinea. The infant apparently started crying (maybe the child wanted deconstructed breast milk?) which annoyed the rest of the diner. [ more › ]

Allow me to introduce you to the Ultimate Super Bowl Snack Stadium. It was created by my internet pal Heather from A Lil Curious. Heather may be A Lil Curious, but she’s A Lot Generous — she’s provided a tutorial so you can make one yourself! There are tons of tasty snacks: corn dogs, pizza, [...]
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Yesterday morning at the annual Billboard Women in Music brunch, musical powerhouse/android rebel leader Janelle Monáe was honored with the Billboard Rising Star Award for the mark she made with her fantastic 2013 album Electric Lady.

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LEGO bricks supply endless hours of fun, but are a real bitch to step on. But what if they’re Simpsons-themed? Probably about the same, but more… how do I say this? Simpsons-ier. And who doesn’t want that out of a LEGO set? I’ll tell you who: jerks. Jerks and killjoys. Thankfully, for the rest of [...]
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It's a new year and Hollywood is once again about to embark on a major awards show crush. We've compiled a guide to help you navigate the season.

[Photographs: Amber Gibson]

Last month, I had a chance to spend a week in Istanbul, Turkey, where I fell in love with the ingredients and flavors of Turkish cuisine. There were pomegranates, lamb, eggplant, chestnuts, pistachios, honey, and spices galore. I discovered some of the best kebabs I'd ever eaten, vegetable mezes braised simply in olive oil and brightened with lemon, and some exceptional Turkish delight. I even tried a sandwich similar to döner kebab, but made with shaved lamb intestines.

This was food that I hadn't eaten in Chicago before and when I returned, I started searching for the best Turkish food in the city. After trying several different restaurants, I am most impressed with the flavors at Turquoise, which was also recommended to me by a Turkish friend who grew up in Istanbul but has lived in Chicago for many years. My waitress said the restaurant has been around for 12 years now and it's definitely a popular neighborhood spot and children are welcome.

From Monday through Thursday nights, there is even a four course prix-fixe dinner option for just $25. This includes either a soup or salad, followed by an appetizer, main course and dessert. There are plenty of selections on the prix fixe menu, including several vegetarian options. Portions are very generous, and they are happy to box up anything you can't finish. This is one of the best value meals I've enjoyed in Chicago in quite some time.

Dinner begins with warm Turkish leavened bread, baked in-house and served with a carrot yogurt dip. For my first course, I chose an arugula salad with red wine poached pears and pomegranate molasses, and found the sweetness from the fruit was a nice counterpoint to the sharp bitterness of the greens.

Next came söğürme, a smoky eggplant purée with yogurt, toasted walnuts, and pepper that is similar to baba ghanoush, but this was served warm and perfect for spooning onto my bread.

My main course was was interestingly enough named "Turkish delight" on the menu, but it had nothing to do with the chewy cornstarch sweets that go by the same name. Instead, this was a medley of sautéed vegetables, including Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, baby carrot, bok choy, and garlic served on a large pate of hummus, and then sprinkled with pine nuts and Turkish golden apricot. This was an incredibly satisfying and flavorful dish without a heavy dose of carbs.

Dessert was kazandibi, a milky custard pudding that means "bottom of the pan" in Turkish. The caramelized brown outer layer is literally what sticks to the bottom of the pan when cooking a traditional Turkish pudding made with shredded chicken breast. This version has no chicken breast though, just butter, sugar, and custard, so it's vegetarian but not vegan. The pudding was a little stiffer and more gelatinous than I had in Istanbul, but it was still tasty served à la mode.

For more Turkish food in Chicago, check out Mike Gebert's post on Turkish breakfast at Pide ve Lahmacun.

I’m not a huge fan of hot/spicy foods or spices but, after seeing this on Kickstarter and seeing it was made by someone in Chicago, I decided to give it a shot. I got the Smoky Bourbon and the Garlic Grappa. Plus, he threw in samples of other flavors. Now that I got it and tried it out, it’s extremely good.

Tonguespank Spice Company: highly recommended.

So apparently in Pokemon X & Y at the "Battle Maison" there is a woman who seems to be trans. She says she used to be a Black Belt, an all male trainer class.

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After seeing his parents interact with a local Applebee's on Facebook, Chip Zdarky noticed that unlike Chili's, the prettiest girl in school with 12 billion likes, Applebee's was mostly talking to itself. Just like the lonely but very friendly kid you sometimes encounter in a middle school lunch room, Applebee's was cheerfully sending out questions about salads and boneless chicken wings out into a cold and unforgiving void. Zdarsky decided to change that by engaging the franchise in conversation over facebook. And the restaurant responded.

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Lincoln Restaurant and La Bocca Della Verita aren't the only restaurants that are now closed or are closing within a few days. [ more › ]

Sheree L. Heil from Tacoma, Washington is your new spirit guide. After her spectacular win on The Price is Right, Heil went absolutely bonkers because that's what you do when you find out you just won a vehicle that's worth almost $160, 000:

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A hair dryer can do more than just style your hair. NPR and America's Test Kitchen suggest you should keep a hair dryer in the kitchen for some clever cooking uses, including melting chocolate and getting perfectly crisp chicken or duck skin.

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If one were to make a list of graves NOT to desecrate, you'd think the tomb of a famous voodoo priestess would appear pretty high on the list. And yet, NOLA.com reports that someone recently slipped into New Orleans' St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and painted Marie Laveau's eternal resting place bright pink.

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Don't think that the NSA always has to wait until people are using technology to start snooping on it. Spiegel has obtained documents which claim that the agency's Tailored Access Operations (TAO) group can intercept computer equipment orders and ...

A US District Judge struck down Utah's same sex marriage ban today, opening the floodgates for same sex marriages to occur in the state. Thanks to social media, one of the first gay men to marry in the state is able to excitedly livetweet his entire courthouse nuptials. And it's pretty sweet.

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After years of deflecting questions about his sexuality, figure skater Brian Boitano just came out: "First and foremost I am an American athlete and I am proud to live in a country that encourages diversity, openness and tolerance." Turns out President Obama is actually sending not two, but three openly gay athletes in his official Sochi Olympic delegation.

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sweaterkittensahoy:

djlegz:

I don’t like sports, but the Bearcats are my new favorite team.

I love how it gets more elaborate each time. These boys are thinking this through.

Photoshopping and airbrushing in advertisements is so ubiquitous that it's expected. But every once in awhile, an ad comes along that is so cartoonishly reliant on, uh, turning a person into a cartoon that it makes the other ads look like Dove commercials. Well, we've found that ad — and it's hilarious. Just watch. Shh- just watch it.

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When 20th Century Fox offered Casey Neistat $25,000 to create a video for their new movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with the theme “Live your dreams” he decided that his dream was to help people in need. He asked them if he could use the budget to help victims of the typhoon in [...]
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For those who still mourn the loss of EveryBlock after NBC shut it down in February, it looks like you’ll soon have something to celebrate. [ more › ]

When you are writing your to-do list, keep a four-color multipen handy and use its colours to make a visual, systematic list. Productivityist's Mike Vardy has a color-coded system for capturing tasks on paper, which you could easily replicate on a whiteboard or any other analog system.

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In Kacey Musgraves' new video for "Follow Your Arrow" the breakout country star entices a bunch of dudes to break out in dance as she sings along in short shorts and western outfits The song is her latest single off her debut album Same Trailer Different Park which earned her...

A woman will often be called pushy for the same thing a man would be called persuasive for. Or she'll get called a bitch when he gets called a boss. We know this, but it's very rare that we see the double standard so plainly called out in a nationally syndicated commercial. Of course, now that that very commercial is actually airing, it's only showing in the Philippines and it's being used to sell hair products, but still — this Pantene Philippines commercial is pretty cool stuff.

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If you're not prepared to be heartbroken, don't read the following. In the exact opposite of a holiday miracle, a woman unknowingly live-tweeted the death of her husband.

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R Kelly's drama-filled R&B soap opera Trapped in the Closet is headed to IFC with new chapters set to begin airing in 2014 Everyone from Rosie the Nosy Neighbor to Pimp Lucius are returning with "more secrets infidelity and unyielding passion to save their relationships" according to a press release...