Long before Martha frenched her first standing rib roast or Rachel Ray opened her first tin of Rotel, there was Mrs. Beeton.

In the 185os, at the ripe old age of 21, Isabella Mary Beeton began contributing household and cookery articles to one of her husband’s many publication/…

Read full post »

 


Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not something most Americans think about. When I was in Britain five years ago, every other story on the news was about the dangers of GMOs and how they were sneaking into the food supply. GMOs sounded like a very bad thing according to the folks… Read full post »

 


I strive to be an extremely polite person. Really, I do. The last thing I want to do is hurt anyone's feelings. But, I suppose that I was born lacking the gene that allows me to enjoy talking on the phone. I love whiling away twenty or thirty minutes giggling with/…

Read full post »

In July, I wrote a post that involved pho. I was asked by EatJax.com (my “real” job) to review a pho place called “Bowl of Pho” this past week. There had been a great deal of confusion on that past post about exactly what pho is and how it is prepared, so/… Read full post »

I would like to face the fact that summer is over. In fact, fall is my favorite season in places that actually have an autumn. It may not have been 88° on Halloween where you live, but you can still enjoy a taste of summer. I suggest serving this with your… Read full post »

I have often been accused of defending some of the most vile things in the world - Wal-Mart, racist costumes... once, I even appeared to defend men! (What the hell was I thinking?)

It should come as no surprise that I've decided to throw caution to the wind yet again. After all, today's subj… Read full post »

I have freely admitted in the past that I am the product of illegal immigrants. I don’t mean that in the “I am white, liberal and guilty because I'm not Native American” sort of way. I mean that in the past 100 or so years, one (or more?) of the people/… Read full post »

 

This isn't my kid but I'll bet the little swine kisser goes to the same preschool.



I’m sick. I’m not sure if this is, as we call it in our house, The Mexican Piggy Clap or not. (Remember back in the spring when it was supposed to have come…

Read full post »

Long before I was a food writer, I was a writer and a food lover. These were separate things until the food revolution of the past decade occurred. That revolution has been led by people just like me who took their craft and married it to another to produce the new… Read full post »

When I moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 1999 my two oldest children were two and three years old. I had researched the schools in the area and the neighborhood elementary school had an “A” rating from the state. I was just 23, but I was thinking ahead. After they started school,/… Read full post »

 

There are things I deeply believe. I’m not sure about the nature of God or the lives of saints and I still don’t have complete clarity on the curvy-bumpy-arrow-line-thingy they say is some sort of front on the weather map. But, there are some things which I do believe wi/… Read full post »

  


Other than the addition of some pumpkins and hay bales, the produce purveyors here in Florida don’t look much differently than they did two months ago in the heat of summer. I’m looking forward to that first whiff of autumn – the one you get unexpectedly one morni… Read full post »

As the fall decorations begin to trickle into the stores, it still feels like summer in Jacksonville, Florida...

The summer of 1959, maybe. 

Long before State Senator Jim King died as a result of pancreatic cancer, John Thrasher had his eye on his seat. Thrasher had announced this past spring/… Read full post »

Today, I am proud to present a recipe from my best friend Ann - you know her as 1_Irritated_Mother. In addition to being a freelance griper and mother to five incredible kids, she also bakes professionally.

She shared “The Best Recipe EVER” for pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling wi/… Read full post »

  

This is the story of how the sweet baby girl above was recently indoctrinated into homophobia.

When my first two children were in elementary school, they were haunted by my bad decisions. Well, really ONE bad decision - I homeschooled them/… Read full post »

I chose to pick on Martha Stewart for a reason. Sure, you can make fun of her for doing time in the clink and knitting her own Volvo warmer. You can giggle about her barely contained bitchitude or even her penchant for remembering the “little people” by backing over them with her/… Read full post »

For eight years my taxes funded a war I opposed which was fought under false pretenses, begun with false information and driven by false motivations. Never once did someone scream, “LIAR!” at the President of the United States during a Congressional address.

I watched as my last president/… Read full post »

The Man is accident prone. I’ll admit that “accident prone” is a charitable phrase. From the moment he could crawl he was getting hurt. His mother has told me stories that leave me amazed that he is alive at all. She has actually said to me (with all the love

… Read full post »

  

Today I would like to share a selection from The Man which involves no cream, no butter and no bacon. Please try to contain your shock. His workplace often has days in which employees bring food. One of his co-workers is from the Philippines and they shared this lumpia /… Read full post »

 

I first heard of this recipe through SeriousEats.com. Martha's Mac & Cheese has almost hall of fame status amongst foodies. SmittenKitchen, copykat, Bitten and just about every food blog on earth not morally opposed to the consumption of cheese (?!?) has prepared and/… Read full post »

 

 

An organization called “Patients First” organized a “Hands-Off My Healthcare” rally here in Jacksonville yesterday afternoon. The standing-room-only crowd was primarily comprised of seniors who had been cold-called by the organization. Here’s the video clip… Read full post »

 

 

When I was four, my mother made Beef Stroganoff with Brussel sprouts. I’m not sure if it was the sprouts or the Stroganoff, but all of us got sick. It’s been thirty years and I have never gotten sick again from anything my mother prepared, but I could not stomach/…

Read full post »

 

The last thing any parent needs is another lecture about childhood obesity and vitamin D deficiency. I’m not here to tell you that you’re a bad parent because your kid refuses to eat anything but pizza and gummy bears. I’m here to tell you how to change it.

First, a disc/…

Read full post »

I had the incredible luck to win two tickets to a pre-screening of Julie & Julia last night. I had never been to a pre-screening before, so it was a different sort of experience than any other movie I’ve ever seen. Because the theater is filled with people who are like-minded/…

Read full post »

  

 

It's tough out there for consumers these days. There are so many different terms used on labels which we don't quite understand that I thought a handy guide might help.

A few definitions to help you in your search:

“100% Natural” – there is no plastic in th/… Read full post »