Jenny Riddle

Growing up, there was only one kind of chocolate chip cookie in our house--Toll House. When my mom made them, she always let us eat the dough. Oh, joy, the good old days when we never gave salmonella a second thought. I can still remember digging my spoon into that mound of dough dotted with chocolate chips. I would almost make myself sick eating the dough--but it was worth it!

By the time I was in fourth or fifth grade, I could whip up a Toll House batch by heart. No need to even look at the … [Read more...] about A Little Spice is Nice!

It was my first real teaching job. I was fresh out of grad school with an M.A. in English, when I landed a full-time tenured-track position teaching English at a little community college in Harrisburg, IL, about 6 hours downstate from Chicago.

Harrisburg has a population of about 10,000 and a small-town vibe to match. I once ate in a restaurant there where I oohed and aaahed over the peanut butter pie, and the next day the same waitress hand-delivered a piece of that incredible pie right to … [Read more...] about Thanks for the Feedback–NOT! (Well, maybe.)

Have you ever had that naked dream? You know, for some reason you’re suddenly in the middle of a store and you’re stark naked and you’re desperately trying to hide? Well, that’s how I felt one night in the summer of 1987, only, it wasn’t a dream.

I was in grad school and had landed a piano bar job on the weekends at the Holidome in Skokie. No doubt some of you remember that place on Touhy. Now one of the things you need to know about me is that I. LOVE. SHOW TUNES!!! So naturally, that’s what … [Read more...] about Take the Extra Step