Forget wine, bring your hostess a banana cream pie

There’s nothing quite like receiving a nice bottle of wine when hosting a party. The go-to gift leaves little room for complaint and offers a lasting impression.

But no mater how appreciative your gracious hostess might seem when receiving the bottle, she’s likely more bored than anything over your predictablity: Seriously? I slaved over a hot oven for something that took you two minutes to pick out?

You can easily turn those two minutes into a far more thoughtful hostess gift with Fulton’s On The River banana cream pies to-go. The made-to-order dessert is a creamy confection of banana filling in a flaky peanut butter crust, topped with caramel sauce and caramelized bananas. Each pie serves 10 and comes with an attached recipe card from Executive Chef Scot Wegener, so your hostess can give it a whirl when she’s not so strapped for time. And at $25 per pie, you can still bring that bottle of wine.

This article was first published on Examiner.com
Photo: Fulton's banana cream pie, courtesy of XA

Chicago restaurants celebrate National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day

Celebrate Fall with a slice of pumpkin cheesecake at one of these local spots.

Birch River Grill is serving pumpkin cheesecake, dusted with cinnamon and topped with caramel sauce and whipped cream, $6.

Eli's couldn't settle on just one pumpkin cheesecake, so instead the shop sells four variations. The first is a classic concoction, baked on an all-butter shortbread cookie crust. Then there's a richer version with pumpkin mousse, and another topped with pecan streusel and caramel. The most fitting for the season, though, is Eli's pumpkin caramel Halloween cheesecake, covered in crunchy walnuts and decorated with a sweet caramel spider web, $33-$52.

Dine's pumpkin cheesecake comes in the form of a tart, complete with candied pumpkin ice cream and cinnamon-chocolate sauce, $6.

Blu Coral shows up Chicago with its New York-style cheesecake, infused with pumpkin and spices, $7.

This article was first published on Examiner.com
Photo courtesy of Eli's Cheesecake.