- 'Tis the season to be jolly.

- And messy.

I'm gonna show Julie how to mix a great batch of old school holiday drinks, and the ingredients go flying like Santa's reindeer.

- You've gotta see this.

(lively music) First, we're gonna go and visit with a mom who makes a very special and public tribute to her daughter this time of year.

- Her little girl loved Christmas, and she wants to keep alive that precious memory.

- [Julie] Christmas can bring out the sentimental side in almost anyone.

The scent of evergreen and the sparkle of tinsel can make you nostalgic for the celebrations and people from our past.

For Diana McConnell, Christmas is a time to honor one little angel that she lost 26 years ago.

In 1996, her seven-year-old daughter, Kelley, passed away from leukemia.

Every year since, she and her ex-husband, Michael McConnell, erect and decorate a special tree in honor of Kelley in the St. Joseph Cemetery in West Peoria.

- It didn't start out that size.

It was little when she died, and it slowly got bigger.

And when it got to seven and half feet, I told my husband, "I can't reach that far, so please get a smaller tree."

So we got this size tree, so I can handle that.

- [Julie] When wreaths and decorations start popping up around the cemetery, you can count on one shining example that celebrates a little girl who loved Christmas.

- She was a sleeper inner, and we'd get up early.

We'd get up, and we'd wait and wait and wait and wait for her to get out of bed for Christmas.

And I don't think we ever went in there, but we thought, oh my gosh.

We're ready, have coffee.

We're ready to just see her expressions on the things that she wanted that we put together the night before.

But she, oh yeah, she loved Christmas.

- [Julie] Kelley was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed little girl that took piano lessons and swimming lessons and loved reading, but most of all, she loved being with her family at Christmas.

Over the 26 years, people have added a few ornaments to the tree, but there is one special ornament.

- Since Kelley died, I see her as an angel.

We call her Angel Kelley.

So, there's one special ornament, which is Minnie Mouse.

Minnie Mouse was her favorite.

So I have one at home just like it, and she's got one here.

- [Julie] People have come to look forward to this more than two decades old tradition that the McConnells have created, and it's music to Diane's ears to hear that people are enjoying Kelley's tree.

- I said, "Oh, that's a really nice tree.

You did a really..." 'Cause I put it on Facebook and people, my friends, responded, "Oh, Diana, nice as usual," well, some will say, and they say, "Oh, it's beautiful."

It's really great.

People notice, and you want 'em to, but you don't really know if they do or not.

So when we hear from people, we just get so excited or we feel so good.

It warms our heart.

("Silent Night") ("Silent Night" continues) - At Christmastime, I love to think of nice warm cozy places by the fireplace with a nice, hot beverage.

- That's why we're gonna show you how to make a really old timey and delicious drink, the Tom and Jerry, but the way that we did it, it got way too messy.

Ho ho ho and welcome to Tom and Jerry Day.

- Ooh, I'm so excited.

- And welcome to festive Worth Township.

We're at my house, and Julie's here to visit, 'cause Julie has never made Tom and Jerries before.

- Never once.

- Well, they've been around a long time, since the 1820s.

I think Britain, they originated there, and they were used as a promotion for a play.

A play that had two characters named- - Tom.

- Yep.

- Jerry.

- Yes, right, right, right.

And later, they came to the United States.

They were super popular in the east in the early 1900s.

New York City, big deal there.

In fact, you might have heard of a couple cartoon characters that were named after them a few decades later, but they're really, really hard to find, but they're not hard to make.

- Really?

- So we're gonna make some.

- You're gonna teach me?

- Yeah.

- Okay, let's do this.

- Now, I do have a warning that we do use eggs that aren't cooked.

Can't make scrambled eggs with this.

We have those.

And you just refrigerate it when you're done with this batter.

It's a batter you make, and then you mix it with some potables, okay?

- P-p-potables?

- P-p-potables, yes.

- And for our layman terms, potables?

- Well, we're gonna use rum and brandy, not all of that, though.

Just some of that, Julie.

- This.

- Just some of it.

It's Monday, for goodness sake.

- Oh my gosh, okay.

- All right, let's get crackin' with the eggs.

Okay, so the first thing you wanna do is you wanna separate the eggs.

We're gonna use a dozen eggs.

And it's good to have one of these.

- That's a lot of eggs.

- It's very- - What is this fancy thing?

- This technological marvel that's probably worth about $1.20.

- Right, and it does?

- Crack an egg and then, doo doo doo.

Look at that.

Look at this magic.

- Oh my gosh.

- Space age.

- Do you not- - I've never done that before.

- It's all mixed now.

That's a terrible tool.

- That's close enough.

- I can do much better on my own.

- You wanna do it sans device?

- The way Grandma Barnes taught me.

- Okay.

- Barry, Illinois.

- There's gonna be so many egg shells.

- Oh, wait.

Okay.

♪ So many eggshells ♪ - Clean.

- Now we're gonna first work with the egg whites.

Those are in front of you.

Grab the salt there, would you?

It's around the corner from the Kraken.

- We're just like Julia Child.

- There we go.

Now, we need half a teaspoon of salt.

- Did you wash your hands?

- Shh.

Now we gotta beat these into making foamy and stiff peaks.

- What level, what speed is that?

- That one.

- The "whee!"

speed.

So what am I doing here?

- Soft peaks.

Whip those yolks, baby.

- On the "whrrr" level?

I bet I do a better job than him.

- Probably.

- [Julie] There were no eggshells, by the way, except for one- - Not anymore.

- [Julie] No.

- Grab the butter, please.

Right in front.

- Can I just hand it to you?

- No, you're gonna put it in the in the bowl.

- How much of this?

- All of 'em.

- Do we have, that's a lotta butter.

- Here, give me a stick or two.

- Yeah.

- Oh, this isn't a health food.

Grab one of the bags of sugar.

Confectionary sugar.

- I foresee it like, (imitates explosion).

- There, see?

- All right.

- I'm not a Neanderthal.

- Well, the vote's still out on that one.

- That's- - Now stick your head in that bowl.

- This is a healthy treat.

- All right, now you gotta blend.

- What does blend mean?

- Blend.

- With this?

- No, with, yeah, with this.

It's like, ready?

(both laugh) (beater whirs) - Should I scoot these back?

Are they not supposed to have it in there?

- I don't know.

We need a teaspoon of vanilla.

I can't use my hand for that.

- What do you use?

- I usually get a- - A plopping?

- I usually get a spoon.

In America.

- Like, one?

- Shaky hand.

- Oh my goodness, what do you have- - Fill her up.

There we go.

- That was a little bit over a teaspoon.

- We need the need the, this.

- Santa's here.

I know him.

- Ooh.

- Oh, look at how well I mixed that yellow goop.

♪ It's Phil's plopping culinary school ♪ - It's like lava.

- His name is right- - We need this.

You wanna dump this in?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Dumpy Dumperson.

Dump her in.

(Julie hums) Look at that.

- Oh, that's frothy.

You did a good job.

- Now we need teaspoon- - Is that in the way?

- Teaspoon of nutmeg.

What do you think, teaspoon?

- You have the recipe.

- Sure, sure.

Okay, now we need- - Oh, I should've been working on that one.

Now we need cloves.

(Julie sighs) Let's see, we need two teaspoons of cloves.

- Oh, you didn't even get one plopping.

- Guess I'll just do a big one.

Just do one big one.

- That's not- - That's kinda like two, right?

A big one.

A big one is like two little ones.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Like a big dog's like two little dogs.

- And a half, only a half of cinnamon.

Half.

- Well, it's already full of something else.

Nutmeggy there.

- Okay, last round of greatness.

Watch it go.

And here, start, do this.

Just feel it.

Just feel the texture.

It's thick.

- It's very thick.

It's like cement.

- Cement mixin'.

- You can make a cement pond outta that.

- Oh, granny would do that.

- [Phil] So we're ready to mix up our drinks.

- [Julie] Okay.

- [Phil] Used to be they'd mix it up in a bowl all hot and everything and then ladle it into each one of these cups.

- Wait, hot?

- Yes.

- This isn't hot.

- Well, it's gonna be hot.

- Ooh.

- It's gonna be hot.

- Mysteries.

- So yes, but we just figure why not use bigger?

If we're gonna spend all this time making it, why not go bigger?

- Just go big, okay.

- And so I'll do a brandy.

Gonna use one ounce of each.

- Now he measures.

- Doo doo doo.

- Before it was just a ploppin' or a dash.

Oh, we're gonna do both, or... - Yes, one on each.

I'm gonna do this and then you're gonna pour.

You're gonna unleash the Kraken.

- Okay.

- One in each, please.

It's heavy.

- Well, it's also, I'm not a left-handed.

- I'm not a left-handed.

There you go.

There's one.

- One.

(both laugh dramatically) Now, who is that?

You know that one, right?

- Mm-hmm.

There's the ingredient.

It's the secret ingredient.

You hear it?

It's ready.

It's called water.

- You said hot like there was something hot on the table.

There nothing.

- It's gonna, not out here.

It's gonna be the hot water.

- Oh my gosh, so (indistinct).

- Here's the secret ingredient.

It's called water.

- How much water?

- This much.

- He's not measuring again.

- Well, it's just, you know, you put it in.

- It's a measuring cup.

You'd think you would measure.

- I don't know.

You put enough so you can do, now, here's the ploppin'.

Here's the poppin'.

- Oh my Lord, I don't, I'm very uncomfortable.

- Here's this.

Here we go.

I'd say for this size, that looks like a good ploppin'.

That's the difficulty.

Little more.

And then, don't be skimpy.

(both groan) - That's all a mess.

- Can you believe it?

♪ Merry Christmas ♪ ♪ Merry Christmas ♪ There we go.

- All right - Here's to you.

- (indistinct) - You gotta drink this.

- Ooh.

- That's pretty good.

(lively music) Hi, I'm Phil Luciano and welcome to exhilarating Worth Township, Illinois.

And we are here for 8-Track Time Machine, when we look back at the albums from the 8-track era.

And today's choice is by the Eagles, and it's their greatest hits 1971 to 1975.

Now, almost everyone's got this in some form.

The reason we're taking a peek at this isn't necessarily for the album but one of the songs on this album, and that's "Take It Easy," which I couldn't believe this when I saw this.

It's celebrating its 50th year this year.

It's been around obviously a long time, part of our lives for those of us who enjoy the Eagles.

So you might know part of this history of the song, that Jackson Browne is writing this tune in 1971, and he's got some of the words going, and he's got the part where it goes, "Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona," right?

And we know that.

And then he has writer's block.

He's stuck.

And along comes one of his buddies who lives next door just down the road a little bit.

And it's Glenn Frey.

And he's like, "Hey, what you working on?"

He goes, "Oh, I got this song.

I can't get anywhere."

And he's got this, "Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona."

And then Frey takes off from there and just starts writing almost the rest of the song.

And Jackson Browne's like, "Hey, man, let's do this together.

Let's finish this whole thing."

And they do.

And Jackson Browne puts it on one of his albums and (blows raspberry) nothing.

And then Frey says, "Hey, you mind if we put it on our album, one of our albums?"

And he's like, "Go ahead."

Jackson Browne's cool with it.

And it's a smash, it goes to number 12, and it's now part of musical lore.

And two things happen because of the song that are, I think, pretty remarkable.

In 2016, the the city of Winslow, Arizona, they've got a park called Standing on a Corner Park after the song, right?

They put up a statue of Glenn Frey, and that's him right there standing on a corner hanging out.

Nice tribute.

You can go to Winslow, hang out, sing the song, do whatever you want and enjoy it.

The other thing about this song is it plays another key role in Eagles history.

In 1984, there's a tribute album being done to the Eagles.

And remember that was after the Eagles said, "Hey, we are gonna never get back together.

It's gonna, hell will freeze over before that happens."

Well, for the tribute album, Travis Trit does "Take it Easy," and for the video he manages somehow to get all five Eagles to appear, and they get together, they do this video, it's good, the song sounds great, but the really cool thing is those Eagles, they're like, "Hey I guess we don't hate each other that much anymore.

Maybe we'll get together and do a little this and that."

And that's where the album and the tour "When Hell Freezes Over" springs from that.

Success all around.

So, to Jackson Browne, to Glenn Frey, to the Eagles for "Take It Easy," we salute you here on 8-Track Time Machine.

See you next time in the garage.

- Speaking of treats, we're gonna visit a sweet shop that was the only Peoria business that was named to the state's annual holiday gift guide.

- And the goodies there, they're not just yummy, they're healthy.

- You gotta see this.

- [Phil] Riley Greenwood keeps evolving personally and professionally.

The 31-year-old is the owner of Riley's Vegan Sweets and Eats, the only business in Peoria named to the state's annual holiday gift guide.

Success like that has come to Greenwood via veganism as a career as well as a lifestyle.

- I'm happier now.

I'm healthier now.

My mental state is a lot more clear, and I just could never imagine going back to how things were.

- [Phil] While at Peoria High School, Greenwood learned retail while working at a shoe store.

After high school, she took a job as a kennel technician for Peoria County Animal Protection Services.

There she developed a love and respect for animals.

About a decade ago, she began baking for her mother, Rachel Parker, now the Peoria County clerk, who long has owned a bakery called Sweet Cakes by Rachel.

With both in the kitchen, the bakery's output exploded.

- So once we practically doubled business, we thought it would be really fun to start something new outside of our small little bakery that we have here on Bronze.

- [Phil] In 2016, they opened Riley's Cupcake and Coffee Lounge in downtown Peoria.

After two years, Riley shut it down to relaunch a bakery in half of her mom's shop.

One day, a customer from the downtown shop came in and asked about vegan options, so Greenwood decided to give it a whirl.

- [Riley] And so I thought, why not always have an option for her when she comes in?

And so I didn't realize how many friends she had.

- [Phil] They quickly gobbled up Greenwood's initial vegan items.

Soon she began to expand vegan options which mirrored the traditional sweets offered on her mom's side of the building.

- [Riley] But it was really fun to just learn the substitutes, learn how to make something the same but different.

- [Phil] At the same time, her longtime love for animals was pushing her to adopt veganism for her own diet.

So she expanded her menu beyond baking to bread and cheese, then pizza, nachos, enchiladas, and other fare.

- [Riley] I just started recreating a lot of the foods that I saw as a kid, and I wanted to make those things.

A lot of people see vegan and they think whole foods.

They think it's nothing but salad.

I wanted to change that narrative and bring the comfort food back into it, not so much the junk food vegan, but plates that you recognize.

Really plate it in a way that you can say, "My mom used to make it just like this."

- [Phil] For Greenwood, the key is to make food in which healthy also means tasty.

- [Riley] It's bringing back all the flavors that you know but leaving all of the animals out of it and letting them have their own time to just enjoy their life, and yet you're enjoying your life at the same time simultaneously with them and you're not interfering with their life at all.

- [Phil] Her vegan experiments landed the shop among just 38 businesses statewide named in the Illinois Office of Tourism's 2022 Illinois Made Holiday Gift Guide.

Greenwood thinks the designation has helped boost orders, many from ex-Peorians calling local friends and family to mail them Riley's sweets.

- [Riley] They're shipping it outta state.

They're really supporting me.

- [Phil] Lately Riley has been working solo for a lack of available help, so she hasn't been offering walkup sales.

However, she does take custom orders.

The shop is easily reachable via Facebook.

And she sells sweets at two other spots, Radish Kitchen in Campustown and the Hy-Vee in Sheridan Village.

That sales model isn't what Greenwood had planned, but she feels as if she is progressing along a simple organic path.

- [Riley] It's been a real blessing in disguise the way that I've been kinda guided through this.

But you kinda know when something chooses you before you choose it.

And I knew when I was working at the animal shelter that something was choosing me.

I just didn't know what it was yet.

And it just kinda led me right where I am.

(lively music) - Hi, I'm Dustin Maquet.

I'm the owner of Maquet's Rail House in Pekin, Illinois.

This is my bar manager, Debbie, and today we're gonna show you how to make a very easy drink that's our most popular drink.

We call it the, it's just called our house drink.

It's made with Wheatley vodka.

Wheatley is a craft vodka distilled at Buffalo Trace Distillery.

And it uses Squirt as a mixer.

So we start out with two slices of lemon two slices of lime, two ounces of vodka.

Any vodka will do, but we like Wheatley.

And then this is muddled.

This is what brings out the flavor in the fruit.

Crush it up really good.

And then fill your glass with ice.

Stick a straw in it.

Fill it up with Squirt.

And that's it.

A very easy, refreshing drink to make.

("Jingle Bells") (bright music) - Every Christmas was spent with my mother's side of the family.

It's a big Italian family, and I couldn't wait to be with my cousins.

I didn't really even care about opening up Christmas presents.

That's how much fun we had together.

And you can always count on my mother bringing a giant platter of assorted Christmas cookies to the party.

And my favorite was always the allspice cookies.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

I'm gonna place one cup of softened butter in the bowl of my stand mixer.

I'm gonna let that beat until it's fluffy.

(mixer whirs) I'm gonna lower the speed and add a cup and a half of granulated sugar.

Ooh, get all that sugar.

And four large eggs.

I'm gonna let that beat until it's well combined.

Time to add the three ounces of unsweetened melted chocolate.

Next is the one cup of strong coffee.

Make sure that it's cooled.

Let it mix until it's well combined.

It's important to get your dough well mixed, and one of my tricks is I stop it midstream and I take my rubber scraper and just scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Then I go ahead and continue mixing.

In a bowl, combine five cups of flour, five teaspoons of baking powder, and one tablespoon of allspice.

I'm gonna mix this till it's combined.

Fold in one cup of chopped walnuts and one cup of chocolate chips.

And I'm just gonna fold until they're well combined.

Time to scoop the cookies.

I love using a cookie scoop because then all of the cookies are the same size.

I'm sure when I was younger, my brothers and I would fight over the big ones.

Make sure to leave about an inch and a half to two inches in between each cookie.

They don't spread too much, but...

I've been known to add an extra handful of chocolate chips into the dough.

Don't be shy if you love chocolate.

I always line my baking sheets with parchment because it makes for easy cleanup.

You'll thank me later.

Bake these cookies for about 15 minutes.

I know they're done when I touch the tops and they're nice and firm.

And sometimes I even turn 'em over.

They're nice golden brown.

Make sure that when you take them out of the oven, let them cool completely before you put your confectioner's sugar glaze on.

In a mixing bowl, combine a one-pound box of confectioner's sugar with about six to eight tablespoons of milk or water.

I'm gonna gradually add my water to my confectioner's sugar.

And you wanna get it to a desired consistency.

I like my glaze thicker because then it gives a really nice opaque look to the cookie.

But you make your glaze how you want.

I kinda mix slow because you can always add more water, but you can't take the water away.

We're getting close.

Make sure to smooth out any of the lumps.

Okay, let's glaze our cookie.

I used to glaze these cookies tops and bottoms, but I just found it easier just to do the tops, and that's plenty of sugar anyway.

So I take a spoon and I just let the icing flow over the entire top of the cookie, and then I just reach for the bottom, brush any excess off, and put it right on a drying rack.

Don't forget to put your piece of parchment paper under the rack so it can catch any of the drips.

Again, it's all about the easy cleanup.

You see how pretty and opaque the glaze makes these cookies?

The key is to make sure that you give these cookies plenty of time to dry.

Otherwise, if you put 'em in the refrigerator or freezer and you take them out, they're gonna get a little wet on the top.

So my preference is to put your cookies in the fridge or the freezer unglazed, take them out a few hours before you're ready to serve and glaze them then.

I hope you love this cookie as much as I do because it's one of my signatures, and you can find this recipe in my cookbook called "The Gift of Cookies: Recipes to Share with Family and Friends."

All proceeds of the sale of the cookbook will be donated to local children's charities.

(bright music) - Hey, Phil.

- Hey, Julie.

- What do you call a person who's afraid to get stuck in a chimney?

- I'm scared to death that you're gonna tell me, but go ahead.

- Well, I am.

It's someone who is claustrophobic.

(both groan) - Sorry.

- With that Merry Christmas from "You Gotta See This."

(Christmas music) (Christmas music continues) (Christmas music continues)