Chicago Magazine's December Issue: Your Best Holiday Ever

CHICAGO, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Skip the holiday stress and last-minute scrambling this year with Your Best Holiday Ever, Chicago magazine's compendium to navigating the season with style and ease. From how to host a dinner party your guests will rave about into the new year, to unique and locavore-approved goodies to give everyone on your list, our guide has endless ideas for making this your most memorable holiday on record.

Discover the secrets to making an eminently doable gourmet feast from North Pond's award-winning chef Bruce Sherman, who welcomed Chicago magazine into his home for an expert instructional and shared delicious and amazingly simple recipes you can pull off in your home kitchen without any fussy ingredients. Choose from 57 covetable presents—all made or designed right here in Chicago—for the imbibers, foodies, men, women, culture vultures, and homebodies in your life. And learn how to give your end-of-year donations the smart way with our how-to on assessing a charity, which includes recommendations for 15 local nonprofits we've vetted for you.

The issue, on newsstands Thursday, also features Chicagoans of the Year 2012. It's high time to single out some people who have made good—no, amazing—things happen in Chicago this year. They include a low-key philanthropist, a community-minded playwright, an innovative jazzman, a dedicated educator, and a young teen and a pediatric surgeon linked by acts of bravery. It's impossible to read about them and not be inspired. Chicago will celebrate the achievements of these special six on Tuesday, December 11, at a luncheon at the Peninsula Chicago emceed by Bill Kurtis of CBS 2 News.

Also in the December issue of Chicago magazine:

• Holiday Hot List – The 20 shows most worth a visit before New Year's to get you in the holiday spirit, from perennially popular classics to the little treasures around the corner—and those for tiny tots, too.
• Angels and Demons – We review the year in local government goings-on to determine the political heroes and zeros of 2012, which encompass more than just elected officials from Chicago and Springfield.
• The $53 Million Bamboozle – How the trusted comptroller of Dixon, Illinois, became the biggest municipal embezzler in U.S. history, according to the feds—and no one noticed.

Chicago magazine's editor-in-chief Elizabeth Fenner and other members of the magazine staff are available for on-air interviews about stories in the December issue. Contact Allison Roche at 312-832-6774 to schedule an interview.

About Chicago magazine

Chicago magazine is the largest monthly city magazine in the country, with a circulation of more than 150,000. In addition, the company publishes Chicago Home + Garden magazine.

About Chicago Tribune Media Group

Chicago Tribune Media Group publishes the Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Tribune as well as related print and interactive media serving Chicagoland such as RedEye, Hoy, Triblocal, TheMash, chicagotribune.com, triblocal.com, and metromix.com.

For more information, visit www.chicagomag.com/press.

SOURCE Chicago magazine