Little Cat Feet? I Don’t Think So
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) was the honorary poet laureate of Chicago. One of his most famous (and shortest) pieces was Fog (1916), in which he wrote, “The fog comes, On little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city, and then moves on.”
It’s lovely imagery, but in truth, at least here on the lakefront, fog more often rumbles in like an elephant. That view I often share of Belmont Harbor and the southern end of Lake Michigan and the city’s soaring skyline is in there somewhere. Today, I can barely see across the street.
Eli’s Coming… To Your Cookbook Shelf
I held back this one photo from last week’s Chicago Chefs Cook for Ukraine fundraiser because I want to give a shoutout to one of the nicest people I know in a community that’s full of nice people. That’s Marc Schulman, President of Chicago legend Eli’s Cheesecake since 1984, who I met several years ago through my work at FamilyFarmed.
It goes without saying that his cheesecakes in a variety of flavors are one of the city’s favorite indulgences. But Marc is also a great philanthropist, donating money and time to such institutions as Chicago’s public High School for Agricultural Sciences (HUAS), the Greater Chicago Food Depository and many others.
He makes an effort to source locally using honey harvested by HUAS students, for instance, and using tofu from Phoenix Bean (owner Jenny Yang is another of my favorite people) in recipes such as that chocolate cheesecake in the photo below. And if you don’t think you’d want to eat that because it’s made with tofu, we need to talk.
Marc’s generosity extends to The Eli’s Cheesecake Cookbook, in which he shares the secrets of his cherished recipes. These are not only cheesecakes but also savory recipes from the annals of Eli’s The Place for Steaks — the hugely popular restaurant, founded by his father Eli Schulman in 1966, that had a nearly 40-year run. Eli introduced the trademark cheesecake in 1980; Marc became company president four years later and assumed leadership after his father’s death in 1988.
One of the coolest things about the cookbook is that it features a long section highlighting recipes from Eli’s Cheesecake workers. It is a celebration of diversity as these employees come from a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds.
The book is authored by Maureen Schulman (Marc’s wife), Elana Schulman (their daughter and Director of Special Projects at Eli’s Cheesecake), Tara Lane, Diana Moles and Jolene Worthington.
If you need a gift for someone sweet, I can heartily recommend this book. Double bonus points if you include a cheesecake with it.