Are you tired of winter already? Why not grow fruit? Last year I decided to do just that, and now have three Meyer lemons ripening up on a spindly little tree in a south-facing window. And I have a lime tree that has potential, but is yet to bloom. My optometrist in Lebanon, New Hampshire, […]

After Thanksgiving 2015, I was disgusted with myself. I had eaten dinner, complained about how full I was, eaten some more, and then I had desserts. The desserts are what did it. Never before had I felt my stomach bloating like that. On our drive home from Virginia that year, I announced to everyone in […]

After the holidays, our appetites can go in a couple of different directions. On the one hand, after a steady diet of stuffed birds and figgy puddings, we seek something lighter, something that feels clean and simple. On the other hand, it’s cold out there, and we want food that’s satisfying to curl up with. […]

NEW YORK It’s courtin’ time and that still means going down on one knee for many proposers of marriage. Only now, more are choosing a special destination to do the asking. Traditionally, the highest concentration of marriage proposals starts in November and stretches to Valentine’s Day, with December as the busiest month. And in line […]

Even though risotto is a simple rice dish, I associate it with special occasions. A northern Italian rice dish cooked in broth to a creamy consistency, risotto is most often served as a first course. But in the U.S., we serve it as a side or a main course. It most always includes butter, onions […]

I had a great gardening year in 2016. Of course, I’m a mad-dog gardener, so that means I was born optimistic and wired to remember success, not failure. So I suppose I had some of both. But the weather was largely sunny and I got a great yield from most of my vegetables, especially my […]

Colorectal cancer has been part of my vocabulary from a young age. Due to a family history of the disease, all of my first-degree relatives get screened with a colonoscopy earlier than the recommended age of 50. I remember driving my mom home from her colonoscopy when I was a teenager. I watched with curiosity […]

CHICAGO In this deadly year of gun violence in Chicago, the tragic became the routine: Teens carried the caskets of friends down church steps. Sobbing mothers huddled at candlelight vigils, praying for an end to the shootings. Police unfurled more yellow tape to cordon off another murder scene. The city recorded its first fatal gunshot […]

Winter is upon us. I live in San Diego, and let’s be honest: The notion of us slogging through a frigid few months awaiting spring’s thaw is ridiculous. Yet, I’m cold. It’s chilly and cloudy and yes, sometimes, even rainy. We all spend more time inside the minute sweater becomes jacket weather. And when the […]

Florists, garden centers and grocery stores are loaded with color right now — plants that are bright, cheery, and hard to kill. They are just what we need in these dark, dreary days of early winter when the sun goes down before 5 p.m. Christmas cactus and poinsettias are great plants that are affordable and […]