Holidays
Week 51: Santa Goes Vegan and Yuletide Gelatin
For the month of December, I thought 52 Saturdays would be jam-packed with Christmas cookies, sweets, breads, festive menu items, and beverages—but, life had a different plan… My Christmas kind of imploded! I’m sad. I don’t want to make Christmas cookies for myself. I don’t want to make Christmas cookies for others. I don’t even […]
Week 50: There Once Was a Gingerbread Village
I really wanted to make gingerbread cookies this week. I bought all of the ingredients, but I’m having some issues with my stomach and the thought of researching recipes and baking literally resulted in nausea. I also have an earlier deadline this week, which meant that waiting for my stomach to settle and trying to […]
Week 49: Holiday Hearth and Home Bread
When did December become a month that I dreaded? For most of my adult life, the month of December (albeit stressful) was filled with joy, sparkle, music, magic, generosity, decorations, surprises, big hearts, friends, and family. In fact, most years my home looked as though it had been pulled off the set of Radio City Music […]
Week 48: Boozy Bourbon Balls With a Shot of Joy
‘Tis the season to reflect. I’m pretty sure that the Ghost of Christmas Past will be visiting with a vengeance this year. And, while I’m hoping to keep my cool with the Ghost of Christmas Present, the Ghost of Christmas Future needs to leave me the f—k alone! I desperately wanted to find my mothers […]
Week 47: AND Vegan Creamed Green Beans and Onions
This OR that. Happy OR sad. Old OR new. Love OR hate. Friend OR foe. Grateful OR wanting. Good OR bad. I venture to guess that most of us have been taught to make such distinctions, and choose between the two. But, more often than not, the opposing sides exist at the same time, and […]
Week 46: Grateful for Slow Cooked Sweet Potato Soup
Thanksgiving sucks! Actually, I don’t really feel that way, but I figured it would get your attention, and, as I’m writing in this moment right now, it’s exactly how I feel. I’ve had 54 years of Thanksgiving celebrations and no two have been the same. As a kid, there were years where our huge dining table […]
Week 44: Boo Hoo and Spiced Maple Popcorn Balls
This Halloween left me as gloomy as a ghost with no house to haunt. Even with adorable kids parading around in costumes, treats to enjoy, and parties to attend, this All Hallows Eve I was visited by the ghosts from my past and spooked by the skeletons in my closet. I found myself craving the […]
Week 26: Waldorf Salad, Hold the Mayo and the Melodrama
I’m halfway through my 52-week commitment (insert happy dance here)! To be quite honest it seems as though I’ve run out of things to say… Or maybe it’s that I’ve run out of things that I think folks want to hear. In the editing process, Rick’s feedback has been that I should go deeper into […]
Week 18: Hot Tamale Mama
Tamale pie was probably not the best recipe choice for a woman who is 38 weeks pregnant. In my defense, it was recipe selection for Cinco DeMayo and likely no Mexican food would be suitable for my pregnant daughter to enjoy without heartburn. She was a trooper though, and we had a lot of fun preparing […]
Week 16: Italian Easter Pie and Finding Religion
I don’t recall going to church before the age of 12. Then suddenly, my mom found religion and we started going to an Episcopal church that was part of the born-again movement of the 70’s. The first time I attended, I was dressed in my red and white Cowboy cheer uniform, because there was a game […]