CHICAGO — Derrick Rose donated to a campaign to stop Chicago's violence, a Bridgeport teen published a cookbook and Festival Cubano is being held this weekend.
Check out what's happenings around the neighborhoods:
Pilsen's Youngest Chefs-In-Training Are Learning The Recipe To Success
PILSEN — Katie Lowman is the star of her own cooking show.
Every Monday, she chops, stirs and mixes before a captive audience, eager to hear her tips on the best ingredients in barbecue sauce and explain what a parsnip is.
Like the sous chefs in "Iron Chef America," Lowman's associates will bustle about the room with brightly colored aprons, assisting and offering suggestions to the chefs on their team.
There's just one catch: They haven't even reached their teens.
[Facebook/Chance The Rapper]
Chance To Give Away 30,000 Backpacks At Bud Billiken Parade
CHICAGO — Chance the Rapper is giving away 30,000 backpacks to Bud Billiken paradegoers on Saturday.
On Twitter Tuesday, the rapper announced plans to give away backpacks.
What will be inside the backpacks has not been revealed.
Earlier Wednesday, parade spokeswoman Kristal Davis said Chance planned a big, secret giveaway at the parade.
[DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]
Have A 'Conniption' Over These Big Ice Cream Sandwiches And Malts
EAST VILLAGE — Conniption opened a little over a week ago — and while there is no blaring music to announce the ice cream truck's presence, adults craving thick slabs of ice cream sandwiched by churros, brownies and crushed Fruity Pebbles are finding it anyway.
Around 9 p.m. Saturday, a line of about a half dozen people waited calmly for their cool sandwiches and malts at Conniption, a trailer located behind new burger joint Flip at 1141 N. Ashland Ave. in West Town's East Village.
Conniption co-owners Aaron Feinhandler, a chef who formerly worked at The Aviary, and his girlfriend Laura Baranovskis, a nurse, said they brainstormed more than 80 different names for their venture, which serves ice cream sandwiches ($5), hand-dipped milkshakes ($6) and fruit paletas ($3).
[Lincoln Park Zoo/Chris Bijalba]
Kingfisher Extinct In Wild, Rare Ducks Among Slew Of New Hatchlings At Zoo
LINCOLN PARK — Make way for ducklings! And the rarer the bird the better.
Lincoln Park Zoo announced Thursday that it had hatched its first three Baer's pochard chicks. Named after Estonian naturalist Karl Ernst von Baer, the diving duck is native to the wetlands of eastern Asia.
[DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
Iconic Swedish Flag Water Tower Returns To Andersonville Glory
ANDERSONVILLE — The Swedish flag water tower has returned to the Andersonville skyline, more than three years after it was taken down.
Installation of the famous blue and yellow water atop the Swedish American Museum at 5211 N. Clark St. began early Tuesday.
A crew of onlookers, including a man dressed as a Viking, excitedly watched as the 10-hour process unfolded.
[Courtesy]
Bridgeport Teen Chef Goes From Freddies Cashier To Cookbook Author
BRIDGEPORT — A Bridgeport teenager who spent years cooking and working at local eateries has earned his first big break: a book signing and cooking demonstration at this weekend's Sunday City Market.
Bob Pickert Jr., 18, has been cooking as a hobby for a decade and has had experience cooking for Tria Sorelle, the catering arm of Fabulous Freddies. But it's his recent trips to Europe that inspired him to release a cookbook titled "The Adolescent Chef."
[DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
North Branch Trail's Final Mile Is Finished: Why 5,280 Feet Are A Big Deal
NORTH MAYFAIR — Federal and local officials will gather with neighbors Saturday to cut the ribbon on the final 1-mile extension of the North Branch Trail.
So much hoopla over a modest 5,280 feet of pavement may seem like overkill, but the fanfare is justified.
The formerly 18-mile North Branch Trail is the most used within Cook County Forest Preserves, meandering through scenic woods, picnic groves and fields of wildflowers to the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.
[Festival Cubano]
Festival Cubano Bringing Food, Music, Hand-Rolled Cigars To Riis Park
CHICAGO — The 8th Annual Festival Cubano is set to transform Riis Park, 6100 W. Fullerton Ave., into a mosaic of Latino-Caribbean art, food and music this weekend.
Spread across two stages, the music line-up includes dozens of groups and DJs spanning from old-school bachata to thumping reggaeton and chart-topping house music.
[Flickr/Keith Allison]
Derrick Rose Donates $7K To Man Walking To D.C. To Stop Chicago's Violence
CHICAGO — Former Bulls star Derrick Ros has donated $7,000 to a man walking from Chicago to Washington, D.C., to help stop Chicago's gun violence.
Demetrius Nash, of Bronzeville, hopes his long walk to D.C. can raise awareness of the city's gun violence and the need for funding for violence-prevention programs. Rose and his partner, Mieka Blackman-Reese, donated to Nash's campaign through GoFundMe on Monday.
[DNAinfo/Isra Rahman]
Free Gelato Pints Coming To Millennium Park One Last Time This Summer
DOWNTOWN — Miss out on free gelato this summer in Millennium Park? There's one more chance.
Talenti will once again hand out free pints of gelato Tuesday in advance of Millennium Park's "Hidden Figures" showing.
