As 2022 becomes 2023 later this week, make a resolution to be bold and adventurous! You can make good your resolution by starting with the palate-pleasing, Peruvian offerings of River North’s Tanta! 

Tanta is celebrating the new year with a $95 per guest six-course feast for the ages. If you’ve already made New Year’s Eve plans, Tanta is also hosting a Peruvian New Year’s Day Hangover Brunch. Out with the old and in with the new!

What makes Peruvian cuisine different? According to EatPeru.com, “Peruvian food is often referred to as Criolla, or Creole food because of the blend of Spanish, Asian, Incan and other European cuisine influences which are integrated into their cooking. Ingredients are based heavily on potatoes, beans, rice, beef, eggs, lamb, fish, corn, chicken and especially the Aji, or chili.”

Tanta’s, which is known for their inventive Peruvian fare  and pisco sour cocktail, is serving a New Year’s Eve menu of Peruvian delicacies. Start with an Amuse (asingle, bite-sized appetizer) of oyster shooter chignon, with a rocoto leche de tigre ice cube(lime juice, sliced onion, chilies, salt, pepper), followed by Tiradito de Parmesano, with a thinly sliced “catch of the day,” served with cherry tomatoes and avocado-parmesan sauce. Move forward with Langostinos a la Brasa (grilled shrimp), with anticuchera sauce, wasabi mayo, pineapple salsa and chili sauce, followed by a Pork Tenderloin servedwithbutternut squash & carrots puree, rocoto-hoisin glazed, crispy quinoa granola, shaved asparagus, and baby rainbow carrots. Grilled Branzino follows, marinated in Peruvian herbs, champagne foam, and sea urchin puree, finished in a water chestnut sauce with Polanco caviar. Your New Year’s Eve feast ends with a rich Flor de Papa, a chocolate cake covered in Peruvian chocolate mousse. To make reservations, click here. 

On January 1, Tanta continues the celebration with their New Year’s Day Brunch…HANGOVER RECOVERY BUFFET fromnoon-4pm.  For $39.99 per guest, guests can feast at several food stations, including Cold and Hot Apps such as Quinoa Salad, Tantita Salad, Carne and Tamal Empanadas, and Bao Con Chicharron. Their Main Entree Station includes Aji de Gallina (Peruvian Chicken Stew) Lomo Saltado (Peruvian Stir Fry), and Arroz Con Pollo (Chicken with Rice). Leave room for their Dessert Station, which includes Mazamorra Arroz Con Leche (Sweet rice with milk) and Brownies.

The highly rated restaurant (4.6 average) is popular on Google reviews: 

“We had never had Peruvian food,” said one reviewer. “Amazed with the flavors, dishes, and new ingredients – even the cocktails and beers. Took our kids and they absolutely enjoyed. This restaurant has traditional Peruvian as well as some Japanese (nekkei) and thus a few items that are a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese so if your party is undecided on culinary type this is a great option. Service was amazing too and they spent time answering our questions. Absolutely would go back!!!!”

Tanta is located at 118 W. Grand Avenue. Their holiday hours this week I’llare Wednesday from 5pm–9pm, Thursday from 5pm–10pm, Friday from 11:30am–2:30pm, and 5pm–10pm, Saturday (New Year’s Eve) from 11am–2pm,  then 5pm–11:59pm, and Sunday (New Year’s Day) from noon–4pm. For more information, click here. 

Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago

Designing and decorating a tiny bathroom can be a daunting task. Combining both style and function is a lot more challenging when you’re working with a small space. If your budget is tight, you might be tempted to just pour your resources and efforts into larger rooms in the home. But the bathroom should never be ignored – it’s a highly used space that plays a key role in the value of your home.

If you don’t want to rip down a wall in the bathroom in an effort to physically enlarge it, there are simple cosmetic tricks that you can employ to make it seem as though you’ve expanded the room. Here are a few easy and affordable ways to make a small space grow, at least visually anyway.

Let the Light Shine in 

Brining in as much natural light as possible in a small space like a bathroom is a fabulous way to make the room appear more open and larger than it really is. Whether it’s from a window or skylight, natural light has the ability to make a space warm and inviting.

If you aren’t blessed with large windows, and instead are stuck with a tiny port hole, light fixtures can go a long way to adding that bright open feeling you so desire. Layering the lighting so that there is both direct and indirect light can add depth and space to a small room. Having a main ceiling light, wall sconces on opposites walls, pot lights in the shower stall and lighting over the vanity mirror can all work harmoniously to open up the space in your bathroom.

Mirrors and More Mirrors

Thanks to their reflective property, mirrors have a magical way of making a small room seem larger and grander, and the bigger they are, the better. Instead of hanging a small mirror above your sink, install an oversized mirror that runs the length of the wall from the vanity to the ceiling.

If you’ve got a double sink, make sure to opt for one large mirror that reaches both ends of the vanity rather than hanging two separate mirrors. If possible, place mirrors across from a window or a bright light fixture in the room to make it visually seem like there are two windows in the same space.

Blend the Tile and Wall Color Together

Double the space in your tiny bathroom by making the tiles the same color as the walls. Having two different colors will do nothing but chop up the space, effectively cutting it in half – the total opposite effect you’re trying to achieve. Instead, blend the two surfaces together in the same hue to make the room look bigger and more spacious.

Take things a step further with the tiles and extend them as far up as the ceiling. It’s amazing how many builders automatically stop the shower stall tile a couple of inches away from the ceiling and then trim the edges. It probably takes less work and requires less money to tile all the way up to the ceiling, not to mention how much better it looks. Avoiding this unnecessary transition from tile to drywall will create less contrast, and therefore a more spacious feel to the room.

Paint the Ceiling and Walls the Same Color

Too many unnecessary transitions in a space will do nothing but break it up. While this might work for extra-large rooms, it doesn’t really work that well in a tight loo. Painting your ceiling and walls in the same color will create a unifying effect that will eliminate any borders and visually expand the space. This is especially true if the ceiling is angled or has low areas. Expand the vertical element of your bathroom and splash the same coat of paint on the walls and the ceiling.

Trade Shower Curtains for Clear Glass

A shower curtain or textured glass around the shower stall will do nothing more than make it seem as though there’s an extra wall in your bathroom. While this does provide privacy in the shower, it will just create a visual barrier inside the room. Instead, clear glass will open up the space, and add square footage in a room that desperately needs it.

Without having to rip down walls, you can make your bathroom look a lot larger with a few tricks of the eye. You don’t have to physically add square footage to visually enlarge a small space!

“You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen.. 

Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen… 

But do you recall… 

The most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer… 

Had a very shiny nose

And if you ever saw it

You would even say it glows…”

‘Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,‘ by Johnny Marks

As children throughout our Chicago communities fall asleep on Christmas Eve this Saturday night, some may wonder if Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, with his glowing red nose, will be guiding Santa’s sleigh through a starless night sky. 

Chicago Origins 

What most may not know about Rudolph and friends is the story’s Chicago origins. 

The credit for the ‘birth’ of Rudolph goes to Robert L. May, a Montgomery Wardadvertising copywriter. Ward’s, as it was known, was a Chicago-based department store, similar to its chief rival- Sears, Roebuck & Company, which still sells as an online retailer today. The holiday season, then as now, was where competition was fiercest and department stores fought for attention,  shoppers, and their bottom line. 

Rudolph was born in the waning days of the Depression, as World War II began raging across Europe. 

According to Wikipedia sources, May was a frustrated advertising copywriter at Montgomery Wards, whose wife was dying of cancer. Early in 1939, May’s boss asked him to write a “cheery children’s book” for Christmas shoppers, suggesting “it should be an animal story, with a character like Ferdinand the Bull.” The store would give the book to shoppers as a promotional gimmick. As the source tells it:

“May decided to make a reindeer the central character of the book because it was a Christmas animal. It had to be a sort of “ugly duckling” who had a lot of heart to make it with Santa. He drew on memories of his own painfully shy childhood when creating his Rudolph story. He and his then four-year-old daughter Barbara, together with Montgomery Ward artist Denver Gillen, visited Lincoln Park Zoo one Saturday to get a better idea of what Rudolph might look like. “

A 2018 Time Magazine article said the idea of a glowing nose apt for navigating came from May looking out his office window in the middle of one of Chicago’s winter days, seeing the fog from Lake Michigan and thinking of Santa trying to do his work on such a night. 

According to the Time Magazine article, Montgomery Ward printed the story as a soft-covered booklet and distributed 2.4 million copies for free. 

Then, a small publishing house Maxton Publishing Co. offered to print it in hardcover. It became a best-seller, but Rudolph’s story didn’t really become world-famous until May’s brother-in-law Johnny Markswrote a musical version that Gene Autry sang. The tune topped the charts in 1949.

Later, with the advent of television, ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ became a much-loved annual television special for the ‘Baby Boomer’ generation in 1964, which was remade for a new generation in the 1970’s and 80’s.  

What resonates with Rudolph? 

The story of Rudolph carries a much bigger message for children and parents alike today. It is the story of a ‘differently abled’ sweet-natured mammal, whose unique traits, once mocked by peers, are essential to accomplishing an important task. As Ronald Lankford notedin his cultural history of American Christmas songs, “The story of Rudolph, then, is the fantasy story made to order for American children: each child has the need to express and receive approval for his or her individuality and/or special qualities. Rudolph’s story embodies the American Dream for the child, written large because of the cultural significance of Christmas.”

Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago

If you live in a warm climate, good for you! But most of us live where it is cold for many months every year. Many of us are also still working the majority of our time at home. Unfortunately, energy prices have been going nowhere but up. When we were gone most of the day it was easy to just lower the thermostat, but now we need to stay warm while plugging away at the laptop. 

When you are in a cold room the skin’s cold receptors cause the blood vessels in the skin to contract and send blood beneath the skin’s fat layer. Hands and feet have little fat and need blood flow to stay warm so of course these extremities will feel the cold first. If the cooling continues it can affect nerves, joints and muscles. You can lose dexterity and speed of movement. Just feeling cold can be a distraction. 

So, you can say, I’ll just put on more clothes, and that’s good but you need to maintain your core temperature. Woolen clothing like sweaters and leggings trap millions of tiny pockets of air that provide insulation. Thermal underwear is great, there are so many options now, but layering works just as well. Throw a blanket over your legs or use an electric blanket, it’s all about keeping the heat from escaping the extremities to keep the core temp up. Keep those hands and feet warm. Fingerless gloves are great, even putting your hands in your armpits work when you’re not typing. Insulating socks and slippers work well to keep your feet warm. Heat goes out through your head too as your brain requires a lot of blood flow. Wear a scarf to keep that heat in that is trying to escape from underneath your clothing. Exercise too can raise your body temp, as little as going up and down a couple stairs can generate 100 watts of heat!

We all should know how to dress and keep our hands and feet warm, but there are a couple of things that can help that you might not have thought of. Drafts will make you feel even colder than you really are. So, try to make your house as draft free as possible, which helps with the heat bill too. Staying hydrated is also important, ensuring blood flow to the extremities. Warm drinks feel comforting but don’t do that much for the core temp. Make sure to eat! Sometimes when working from home we put off eating. Eat at least a snack every 3 hours or so. Something high in protein and complex carbs; cheese and nuts, for example. Stress can reduce blood flow, so try to avoid it (if you can). If you feel stressed, get up and do some exercise. Bundle up and take a brisk walk around the block. 

Heating just the space you’re in is much cheaper than heating the whole house. There are many portable heaters available that are safe and energy efficient. They are much better than the old-fashioned ones that could literally set the house on fire. So try these tips and stay warm while keeping those energy bills in check. 

Kathleen Weaver-Zech and Dean’s Team Chicago

It’s hard to believe that it’s already the final weekend before Christmas!  Where did the time go?  Anyway, here’s the last batch of holiday festivities that could get ugly!

The River North neighborhood is the place to be if you’re looking for somewhere to gather and celebrate holiday cheer with friends — 

Join Santa’s Elves this Saturday at the Headquarters Beercade (213 W. Institute Pl.) for the first annual Elfed Up Christmas Crawl from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.  This brand-new bar crawl travels to multiple neighborhood bars in River North and tickets include free Elf Ears (while supplies last), entry up to 5+ venues (no cover), drink specials, a complimentary shot at designated bars, take home swag, DJs at all venues, prizes, giveaways, and more!  Plus, the party continues at Fame Nightclub (157 W. Ontario Pl.) afterwards.  It’s an epic holiday adventure not to miss!

Tunnel, Tree House, and Moe’s Cantina in River North will be decking the halls for the biggest Christmas party in Chicago this Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. for the Ugly Sweater DAY Party.  Gather your closest friends and don your favorite ugly sweater while enjoying free admission, a complimentary brunch buffet, two drink tickets, complimentary Santa hats, $5 holiday themed shot specials, giveaways and more!

Whether you’ve been naughty or nice, the Hubbard Inn (110 W. Hubbard St.) wants you to join them for their Ugly Sweater Holiday Party this Saturday from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.  Holiday highlights include three dance floors, immersive experiences, activations, dancers, competitions, a 360-photo booth, giveaways, and more!  All you need to do is dress in an ugly sweater, a holiday onesie, or a festive costume!

For those who haven’t completed, or even started, their holiday shopping, Chicago’s world-famous European-style antique and vintage market, the Randolph Street Holiday Market, returns this Saturday and Sunday to Plumber’s Hall (1341 W. Randolph St.) in the West Loop.  Here you’ll find the most unusual and stylishly crafted mix of vintage and modern decorative objects, art, fashion, jewelry, housewares, hostess gifts, and more from 125+ vendors on three levels.  Guests can also enjoy the market’s bar for a beer, wine, bloody mary or champagne and local eateries while browsing vendors and listening to holiday music from local DJs!  ‘Tis the weekend to complete your holiday shopping!!

In honor of Hanukkah , which begins at sunset this Sunday, here are some Hanukkah festivities for all to enjoy:

The JCC Chicago is hosting 8 Nights of Hanukkah both in-person and with virtual programming across the Chicagoland area.  The 1^st Night, 1^st Light will be held at Gallagher Way (3635 N. Clark St.) in the Wrigleyville neighborhood this Saturday (3 p.m.-6 p.m.).  Families are invited to light the first candle and celebrate with live music, entertainers, Hanukkah games, giveaways, and more!  Click link above for the remaining 7 nights festivities.

Grab your dreidel and the whole mishpocha and head on over to Strawdog Theatre Company’s annual hit show Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins now through December 31^st at the Edge Off-Broadway Theater (1133 W. Catalpa Ave.) in the Edgewater neighborhood.  The goblins are at it again!  Will Hershel of Ostropol be able to outsmart them?

Join the Norwood Park neighborhood this Sunday (4 p.m.) for their 4^th annual LED Chanukah Celebration at Centennial Park (6068 N. Northwest Hwy.).  This event features an LED show, live music, Chanukah swag, a chocolate gelt drop from atop a fire truck ladder, activities for the whole family, latkes, donuts and more!

Holiday Cheers!

Sue Moss and Dean’s Team Chicago