Table of contents for Spring 2026 in Midwest Living

THERE ARE THE TRIPS YOU TAKE—and then there are places that stay with you. Late last summer, as the season began its quiet turn toward fall, my family headed north to Mackinac Island in Michigan. Three days. Two tween girls. One island where cars are replaced by bicycles and horses, and time seems to loosen its grip. From the moment we stepped off the ferry, island life invited us to slow down. Mission Point Resort became our base camp, with sunrises worth waking for, a lawn expansive enough to feel private, and a family suite that allowed space for both independence and reconnection. With no traffic and no honking, the rhythm shifts. We biked the island’s 8.2-mile loop, Lake Huron revealing itself in new shades of blue at every…

opportunity knocks Photographer Ronnie Frey has spent five years wandering Chicago’s neighborhoods, documenting their most eye-catching thresholds, both public and private (like this Old Town residence). Due out in May, his entrancing book, Doorways of Chicago (Trope, $35), gathers 144 of these images into an architectural love letter to the city. “There’s a sense of permanence and pragmatism in our doorways that reflects Chicago itself,” says Frey, who also leads popular walking tours of the city. “They were built to last through weather, time, and fires, and yet they still manage to be expressive. They invite you in, yet stand their ground.” doorwaysofchicago.com GO DEEPER Tap here to check out more photos, plus our full Q&A with Ronnie Frey.…

When I first moved to Madison, Wisconsin, seven years ago, I immediately began hearing about Cambridge. The town of 1,700 was revered as an easy weekend escape, just a 30-minute drive east to another world, where Beltline traffic ceases and artists take the wheel—the pottery wheel, that is. Decades ago, ceramicists began transforming this once-sleepy farm town into a haven for makers. Lucky for us, clay dust still settles on workshop floors, kilns still reach 2,000 degrees, and a medley of artists have followed in their forerunners’ clay-caked footprints. And now, as a firmly entrenched Wisconsinite, I’ve become one of those locals asking, “Have you checked out Cambridge yet?” 9:00 A.M. MORNING RITUAL Start your day at The Marigold Room, a gluten-free tearoom and cafe on Main Street with 1892…

If you didn’t know their story, you might guess it from Radwa and Alia Elkaffas’ accents. A round, long O roots them firmly in Minne-soh-ta. But when they start talking food—tahini, falafel, koshari, za’atar, sumac—Arabic flashes in the tilt of a vowel or the roll of an R. It’s not so much code-switching as code-mingling. And it’s also how they cook. Though if you spend any time on FoodTok, you may already know that. The daughters of Egyptian immigrants, Radwa and Alia are the faces of Food Dolls, a lifestyle and food brand with millions of followers. Every week, they share recipes that are bright, playful, and quintessentially second-gen. It’s a space where One-Pot Cheeseburger Pasta cozies up with fattoush salad, where pita bread gets baked in an air fryer,…

The forest heat is unforgiving, and the damp soil makes the air thick and muggy. The sun is setting slowly over the tree line, and my fellow hunter offers again to call it a day. But I keep stalling. Just a little longer. It’s so agonizing for me to leave the woods in spring that I’ve sometimes likened my fervor for mushroom hunting to having a gambling problem. Jackpot clusters of morels appear to me like mirages in the desert. Any oddly shaped leaf or fallen walnut is enough to convince me a big win is just around the corner, even after hours of fruitless searching. And no matter how many times I walk away empty-handed, I always come back. The true morel, or Morchella, exists somewhere between fact and…

MAIN DISH SESAME-HONEY BAKED SALMON Preheat oven to 425°. For sauce, in a small saucepan, stir together ⅓ cup honey, ¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter. Heat over low, whisking constantly, until butter is melted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil; 2 cloves garlic, minced; and 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger. Place four 4- to 6-ounce salmon fillets in a 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Drizzle with sauce. Bake until salmon just flakes when tested with a fork, basting with sauce halfway through, 15 to 20 minutes (4 to 6 minutes per ½-inch thickness of fish). Serve salmon drizzled with sauce from pan and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and/or sliced green onion. SIDE CRISPY VEGGIE SHEET PAN RICE Place…

Detroit wears tire tracks all over its history. But on a recent trip to the Motor City, I wondered if I’d be able to get around this gas-powered town without four wheels. During the last two decades, Detroit has implemented several projects to improve walkability and connect neighborhoods. It began in 2007 with the Riverwalk, a 3.5-mile pedestrian route in the heart of the city. Subsequently, in 2016, the Dequindre Cut was completed, a transformed railway corridor that runs 2 miles north from the Detroit River through the eastern neighborhoods. Over the years, other stand-alone greenways popped up around the city. Now, an ambitious project is linking them all. The Joe Louis Greenway will form a 29-mile loop around Detroit, connecting the riverfront to neighborhoods as far north as Highland…

After wrapping up a three-day photo editing marathon, Detroit photographer Emily Berger steps out into her garden, exhaling deeply as she soaks in the sunshine. Clippers in hand, she begins her favorite ritual: gathering flowers for the kitchen table. “Zoning out in the outdoors and spending time creating something for no reason but fun is the antidote to desk work and screens,” Berger says. She wanders toward her bloom-laden Itoh peonies, promising herself she’ll snip only a handful. But one stem becomes five—then 10—as nearby alliums, irises, and roses beckon. Soon her bundle is overflowing, a riot of early June pinks and purples. Berger lays her blooms on a potting bench and returns with her camera to capture the natural beauty of the two-tone irises and spiky salvias spread across…

bonus cntent for select readers in ILLINOIS / INDIANA / MICHIGAN / MINNESOTA / WISCONSIN FATHER FORGIVE ME DETROIT This wine and cocktail bar is carved out of a garage space on the grounds of The Shepherd—a cultural arts center occupying the shell of a century-old Romanesque church in Detroit’s Little Village neighborhood. (With outdoor art, gardens, galleries, and a full slate of events, the project has garnered national attention.) Expect boutique wines and creative fare, like burrata with cherry tapenade and crushed Marcona almonds (pictured). fatherforgiveme.com CHAMPAIGN COUNTY AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE TRAIL CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS University of Illinois football fans might have walked past the names etched in the 200 stone columns at Gies Memorial Stadium—like William Frank Earnest, the first African American from Champaign County to perish in World…

fresh picks Perennials are the workhorses of our Midwest gardens, reliably returning in the same spot each spring, like neighbors back from a long snowbird vacation. And as with good friends, you can never have too many. High on our wish list this year is Nova ‘Sunstone’, a snazzy introduction from Terra Nova Nurseries. Reaching 10 to 12 inches in height, this tickseed (also known as Coreopsis) trades the genus’s familiar yellows and reds for a warm, midtone pink with hints of peach. And it’s not just a pretty face: ‘Sunstone’ is a vigorous pollinator favorite, pumping out flowers from June through October. READ MORE Tap here to browse the full list of 10 new perennials we can’t wait to try this year.  …

Some of the loveliest harbingers of a Midwest spring are crabapple trees. They bloom so prolifically you almost can’t see the branches through the cotton-candy clouds of pink and white. But these trees have other assets. Summer through fall, their foliage can be glossy green, bronze, or purple-tinged. The fruit they produce is too bitter for snacking but is tasty in jam or can be left on the tree to soften and provide cold-weather food for songbirds. And in the depths of winter, the trees’ bare, twiggy branches provide a bit of architecture and shelter for animals in gardens. For tips on favorite specimens and how to care for established crabapple trees, we checked in with Jessica Barnett, horticulturist for the Arie den Boer Arboretum at Water Works Park in…

Spring stomps in all sunbeams and dew drops. “Sprout!” the season commands. “Grow! Change!” I comply by way of home renovation. Not that it’s a fresh idea. I’ve been gnawing on it since last summer, when my husband and I bought a compact condo in Chicago. Its front windows gazed out over Lake Michigan—and in on scenes of desolation. Previous owners had stripped out the unit’s early 20th-century charm and installed late 20th-century neglect. Not our favorite look. We rented a big blue dumpster and tossed the rust-color kitchen, the rust-corroded bathrooms, and the rustic dropped ceilings—leaving intact those front windows, their view, and a stand of structural concrete columns. As decorating schemes go: minimalist. In fall, we embellished. We added an architect, a contractor, a drill team of electricians,…

They wouldn’t say it so boldly, but Justen Lambar and Nate Crawford are redefining brunch—from inside their Chicago apartment. At the couple’s Cozy Cafes, a dozen or so lucky, ticketed guests mix and mingle over joyfully maximalist dishes like peanut butter cinnamon rolls, gochujang-bacon focaccia sandwiches, or leek-and-sausage bao buns. Known as Morning Jay’s, the creative duo is waking up Chicagoland and drawing national attention. Here’s the story behind their homemade success. As told to Jacqueline Kehoe. LOVE AT FIRST BITE NC When we were first talking on Tinder, we messaged each other about chicken and waffles. And our first date was actually at a chicken and waffles spot in Milwaukee. It ended up being eight hours long! That was five or six years ago. We make the dish for…