Merry Christmas to all my readers who are celebrating today! It’s been a good day here at our home. My 91-year-old mom is visiting from California, and both of our girls are here, too. We first opened our stockings filled with all kinds of goodies, then enjoyed our traditional maple-pecan twist coffee cake before gift-opening. […]
It’s SoupTime!
It’s so cold here in Chicago, which means it’s time to get the kitchen warm with a hearty beef-barley-mushroom soup. After warming up with the soup, I need to go out and finish my last minute Christmas shopping. If you have a favorite winter soup, I would love to hear about it! After last minute […]
Our Grief-Stricken Nation
I have been staring at a blank screen for a very long time. It’s hard to write about a cookbook or a recipe amidst the tragic events in Connecticut. I have changed the title about twenty times, and erased everything written in the last hour. And I still am at a loss for words. After watching […]
The Cake Boss Cooks Italian
We are fortunate in our area of Chicagoland to have incredible libraries. One of them, the Cook Library District from my hometown has had a series of chefs and their cookbooks, the latest being Buddy Valastro of the immensely popular “Cake Boss” television show. I knew this show was popular, but I didn’t know Buddy was a rock […]
Celebrity Reflections Cruise: Great Food and a Shower Over the Ocean
Life wasn’t too tough this past weekend. My daughter Kristina and I were honored to be on the inaugural cruise of the fabulous new Celebrity Reflection. And what a ship it is! If you are planning a cruise, this is the ship you want. Our cruise was a weekend event, leaving from Miami and sailing down […]
Bon Voyage!!
My daughter Kristina and I are off on a cruise tomorrow aboard the ship “Celebrity Reflection,” from the amazing Celebrity Cruise line, the same one that sent us on our cruise to Alaska six months ago. The ship is making its inaugural debut this weekend. We’re so excited! Since I have no photos yet, I will just […]
I Think Santa Had Too Much Wine….
Oh. my. goodness. Yes, Santa had too much wine and put on his suit upside down. Please see the blog below and have a good laugh on me. Ho, ho, ho… I don’t know what I was thinking. Hopefully, Santa will think I have been a good girl now and bring me more wine… Here is the […]
‘Tis the Season!
Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s time to start with some Christmas decorations. How cute is this? It was one of the many treasures I found while in California a couple weeks ago. Every wine bottle needs a Santa suit, right? I also found some cookbooks, as I always do while traveling. […]
