Last week, when I was visiting family in Pennsylvania, I ate out more times in two days than I did from the time I was 0 to 13. This behavior would have shocked my frugal parents back in the ’50s and ’60s. From the time I was born until I was thirteen I think I dined out twice. (I did tour the McDonalds in Beaver Falls with the…
Few things bring me the uncontrollable joy of a juicy pulled pork sandwich. (Should a single woman ever admit that?) I know pork isn’t health food, but if you don’t eat something decadent every once in a while, where’s the joy in living? Especially if, like me, you eat salads, chicken, vegetables and tofu. Yes, you can make them taste great, but there’s something wicked and exciting about…
I spent much of this year dreading my birthday, which came today anyway, in spite of my best evasive maneuvers. I’ve found that dread is a very effective life skill, if used properly.…
Alex is getting married. I find this hard to believe because, according to my calculations, she is still twelve and helping me bathe my daughter in the kitchen sink. I was never good at math.…
I met Marilyn at JJill a couple of years ago. We both worked part-time, and bonded over our love of clothes. She was in her 60’s, medium sized with light brown hair, and was quiet, hard working, very sweet, and unbelievably enthusiastic about folding tissue paper perfectly when wrapping merchandise. I watched, learned and can now tissue with the best of them, but I’m still not as good…
My kids were gone for a mini-family reunion at their dad’s house for the Fourth of July and I missed them, so I wanted to cook something wonderful when they returned. It was Sunday and my Italian soul longed for lasagne. It was just special enough that my devious plan, to get them (including my daughter’s boyfriend) to stay for a meal, worked. Now that’s success. (See what…
I didn’t bake anything awesome, or make any mistakes more stupid than usual to tell you about this week, so I was uninspired. Then I remembered Jack London’s quote, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” So I sat my butt down and started writing anyway.…
I have a very big, ugly birthday coming up at the end of July. This is serious people. After this birthday, I may officially be classified as”old,” although the damned AARP has been trying to tell me I’m old for at least a decade. I know old is better than dead, but it is hard to swallow, unless you go in like a hellion and do all the…
I wish I was royalty. Then I could just turn to a servant and say, “Jeeves, have this pressed for me at three.” That would be nice, but the closest I ever got to royalty was a story floated around by some family member that we Tunno’s might be descendants of Albanian Royalty. I thought Albanian Royalty was a fiction, until I looked it up. Apparently, they not…
Does canning scare the crap out of you? I ask because canning used to scare the crap out of me. I was always afraid a jar would explode if I did something wrong. But then I started canning. Don’t be too impressed, I only do preserves because they’re easy. Not Martha Stewart, hey let’s mosaic the side of your house easy, but Fran easy, which means I can…