Victoria Wesseler
What's In Your Freezer?
March is National Frozen Food Month and today, March 6, is National Frozen Food Day. While some culinary purists may feel guilty serving meals made from frozen, rather than fresh, fruits and vegetables,...
A Prune In Plum's Clothing
If you’ve bought prunes lately, you may have noticed an interesting thing. They are undergoing a name change. Many packages bear both the words “prunes” and "dried plums.” This image upgrade has...
Hey Mister! Throw Me Some Beans!
Today is Fat Tuesday. According to tradition, it is the last day for many Christians to eat, drink, and indulge in a multitude of worldly pleasures before the Lenten season begins tomorrow on Ash Wednesday....
A Heart Healthy Valentine's Day Dinner For Two
Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest evenings in the restaurant industry. And while a cozy candle lit table for two in a tiny, off-the-beaten path bistro just might be a no-fail recipe for romance,...
Cooking Among Friends: Eat Better With Less Work
How would you like to be able to serve your family a hot, healthy, delicious evening meal and save money and time in the process? Too good to be true? Not according to Mary Tennant and Becki Visser, founders...
Super Bowl Snackin'
Super Bowl Sunday is just around the corner. It’s a great time to invite your friends over for a causal get together and indulge in some heavy duty snacking as you cheer your favorite team onto victory....
Pass the Salt, Please
Salt has had a long and fascinating history in world civilization. Prized for its food seasoning and preservation properties, it was also used for metal working, tanning animal hides, and in making soaps,...
Feeding Fido
When it comes to healthy eating, what’s good for you may not be so good for your dog. According to Lila Miller, DVM, ASPCA Vice President and Veterinary Outreach Advisor, and Adjunct Assistant Professor...
Fat Cat
Each year in January, I sit down and set goals for myself. I write them down in a small notebook and read them a few times a week during the year. It helps keep me focused on what I need to be doing personally...
(Not Just) Plain Vanilla
Once so expensive that it was reserved solely for royalty, vanilla is the most widely used flavoring in baked goods and other dessert items. It is the second most expensive spice in the world, next to...
Boughs of Holly
Christmas gifts have begun to arrive at our home. Many of them are live plants including poinsettias and miniature evergreen trees. Other gifts, such as loaves of homemade bread, cookies, candy, and Christmas...
A Few of My Favorite (Culinary) Things
They should pay my mail delivery person by the pound during November and early December. Every day my mailbox is stuffed to overflowing with thick holiday gift catalogues. I usually toss most of them...
Holiday Gifts From Your (CD)Kitchen
A friend of mine says that the best holiday gifts she receives are those that can be worn or eaten. And preferably the latter. At 84, she claims she has enough knickknacks to dust; but she and her husband...
Cold Turkey
I’ve eaten Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant twice in my life. Once was with my first husband and our respective families. We went to a buffet where the food and the service were, in a word, horrible....
Don't Forget the Cranberry Sauce
Every family has holiday traditions. Some are thoughtful and planned, like my husband's tradition of getting up at 3 a.m. each Christmas morning to make his homemade giant cinnamon rolls for breakfast....
Thanksgiving Cocktails
With the holiday season fast approaching; my guess is that alcohol sales and, for some individuals, personal alcohol consumption will increase. Pre-dinner cocktails, champagne, wine, beer, and other alcohol...