Okay. I admit it. I'm a bagger.

No, not as in Tea Party but as in groceries.

Bagging other people's groceries is one of my responsibilities in my new part-time job--which I'm enjoying very much. It's always interesting to see what travels down the black conveyor bel… Read full post »

I spotted them from a distance. They, to the left of me. To my right, Lake Michigan itself. An elderly, gray-haired man standing at the end of a long, stone driveway. A bit stooped. Leaning on his cane. And a young woman, a girl, really, pulling out of/… Read full post »

Potato cakes are entries common in older cookbooks. I've had my eye on one from the 1930s for some time now and adapted it for this recipe. Hint: Do no wait until you have "leftover" mashed potatoes or, like me, you'll never make them. Mash potatoes just for this… Read full post »

Here in the South, just the mere mention of the word "snow" is enough to send people into a dizzy panic--as real a panic as it must have been in the Civil War with the utterance of the word "Yankee," as in "the Yankees are coming!"

People begin to get nervous.… Read full post »

First, a bit of history . . .

Today is December 1 and the countdown and flurry and hurry to December 25 begins in earnest. WHY? 

_{Christmas in August would be a lot less stress!} 

Now that we have entered a new millennium, I think it’s time we re-visited holiday times and dates. I&/… Read full post »

Tender egg-pasta enclose savory ground meat spiced with onion, garlic and parsley. Boiled, they are served in a butter sauce with a side of boiled cabbage.

It has been a matter of speculation most of my life about any "Jewish heritage" on my mother's side of the family. Gro… Read full post »

It’s apple-pie weather!

It arrives on the first pre-autumnal winds off the Lake, heralded by flotillas of gray and blue clouds. Windows opened all summer are shut. Sleeping at night is house quiet. No fans to drone one to sleep. Not even a cricket.… Read full post »

When all else fails, there's family. And food.

Like many people and for economic reasons, I, the already-starving artist, had to close my 13-year-old studio, give up my apartment and my beloved state of Michigan and move in with my sister and her family in their large North Carolinian home… Read full post »

Gary,

Anne Frank's beloved chestnut tree in the Amsterdam courtyard behind the "secret annex" where she and her family hid from the Nazi Gestapo during the last years of WWII is coming to America.

Sceduled to be chopped down due to disease and age, it was saved by an… Read full post »

I loved this apartment! Chalk is on the leather chair watching me work. Cats are so smart! See the ivy on the tree through the window? I planted tiny transplants years ago.

My favorite part of the day is going to bed at night. I slip… Read full post »

Look for thick, juicy, ham shanks, such as these.

UPDATE: I just made this last night and made the following additions which I loved: I added 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika and, in place of one can of yellow hominy, I added 1/2 can white hominy and 1/2 can… Read full post »

Yesterday, Jennifer Granholm, governor of Michigan, reported that in December, a record NEW 200,000 people applied for unemployment benefits in this economically depressed state.

It may seem a ridiculous question to ask, but what exactly qualifies one to be "unemployed" and thus eligible for those b… Read full post »

I'm 56-years-old and my parents recently sent me a check for 1,000.00 because times are tough. On the first of the month, I had to close my studio and little retail store that I've had since 1996, the pride and joy of life.

Financially, it was an easy decision. Business as… Read full post »