Now that it is December, I’m sure you have all your holiday decorating done, cards sent off and gifts wrapped. Oh, you don’t? Me neither. Let’s all remain calm, though, and have a drink – of hot chocolate, I mean. Let me clarify what I mean by hot chocolate. I’m not talking about the overly sweet, instant variety made from cocoa processed with alkali and non-fat dry milk. That’s kid s…
So, what are you going to do with all that leftover turkey? Now that the guests have departed, the pies have all been eaten and the red wine stains on the tablecloth are soaking in a bathroom basin filled with Oxi-Clean, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Except that leftover bird keeps staring you in the face every time you open the fridge. Leftover turkey is a Thanksgiving tradition, kind of li…
How many of you still have not taken down your Christmas tree? Let’s see a show of hands. Higher now, don’t be bashful. I still have my tree up, too, so you are not alone. And as I found out recently, many people around the world leave their Christmas tree up until January 6, the Feast of Epiphany. The 12 days of Christmas that Bing Crosby used to croon about are actually part of a 12-day fes…
Happy New Year again! Oh, didn’t you look at your lunar calendar this week? There is another New Year's Eve and New Year's Day to celebrate. Even if you didn’t set aside a bottle of champagne, you can ring in the Chinese New Year on Monday, January 23. Also called the Lunar New Year because the Chinese calendar is a lunar one, the Chinese New Year is the year’s most important traditional ho…
What is your favorite Girl Scout cookie? We recently bought several boxes from a friend’s daughter who is a Daisy. This is her first year in Girl Scouts and she is steadily working her way to earning a Cookie Badge and a trip to Disneyland for her cookie selling efforts. While I was never in Girl Scouts as a child, I remember my mom annually purchasing a box or three of Thin Mints from the neig…
Spring sports season is here again. Like many moms, my afternoons are consumed by the ferrying of children to sports practices and games. And I love every minute of it, for the most part. Getting dinner on the table, however, is a daily challenge. While hitting the fast food drive-thru on the way home is always a temptation, the thought of what that does to the waistline and the wallet propels me…
Raw. Really? A friend of mine shared with me her decision to follow a raw food diet. Not vegetarianism, not lacto-ovo vegetarianism, not even veganism, but rawism. You may be wondering, what in the world is a raw food diet? And is it healthy? My friend explained the principle and belief behind rawism is that the consumption of uncooked, unprocessed plant and animal foods is better for your body t…