CHUSday and a Pro Gives Us Tips

Today Mollie Cox Bryan, author of Mrs. Rowe’s Little Book of Southern Pies (which Wanda covets) and Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant Cookbook, is joining us to share some of her kitchen tips. Mrs. Rowe’s is a wonderful Southern-style restaurant in Staunton, VA, that I visit every time I’m down that way, so it was a treat for…

Read More

Sunday Poetry: Stained by her Girlhood’s Gravy

Welcome to Sunday Poetry.  If this is your first visit you can read about the purpose and inspiration of my Sunday poetry blogs here. Did you have enough of family this week?  If you live in the U.S., did you spend the Thanksgiving holiday with relatives you rarely see and who are determined each year to prove you have nothing…

Read More

Raise The Song Of Harvest Home

O Lord that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness! ~ William Shakespeare We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but…

Read More

CHUsday and the Cooking is Easy

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, I know there’s lots of cooking going on out there this week.  In fact some of you have already cooked and eaten your holiday feasts.  But for those of us who still have cooking to do, I asked my Facebook Page friends to help today.  They came up with great tips for all…

Read More

Sunday Poetry: With Starry Silences

Welcome to Sunday Poetry.  If this is your first visit you can read about the purpose and inspiration of my Sunday blogs here. Searching for  Thanksgiving poems to share with you, I discarded a number.  Some wandered through territory I didn’t want to travel.  Others made me wonder whether the poet was grateful for anything and if…

Read More

Reality Shows: The Art of Entertainment?

Get out your #2 pencils, class. Pop quiz today. What television network began in 1984, envisioning itself as a commercial alternative to PBS? What television network commissioned double Emmy winner Horatio Hornblower and produced outstanding classics such as as Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and The Great Gatsby? What television network claims that last year,…

Read More

CHUsday Tips to Take You Back to the Kitchen

This week while leafing through old magazines, I found a tip I can’t believe I’ve never tried.  It’s so obvious and simple.  Chop onions, peppers, celery, or carrots and freeze on a cookie sheet, then pop the frozen veggies into plastic bags.  When an ingredient is needed for a recipe, break off a chunk. Well, of course.  Celery regularly wilts…

Read More

Sunday Poetry: With Unseen Ropes

Welcome to Sunday Poetry.  If this is your first visit you can read about the purpose and inspiration of my Sunday blogs here. Despite a four hour debacle last week, which ended in triumph when a CVS pharmacist squatted beside a chair in the storeroom and gave me a hard-won flu shot, I still came down with…

Read More

The Write Way: Back Story, Front Story, and Nothing In Between

Picture this:  You’ve splurged on a hefty hardcover you know you’ll spend weeks reading.  You’ve given the bookstore your hard-earned cash because you expect the author to keep his/her unspoken promise.  Within these pages a story will unfold,one so riveting that by the time you finish, your life  will be transformed–or at least during the…

Read More

CHUsday and Soup Weather’s Here

Tina, who posted a comment on the CHU blog, Bread’s Baking in the Oven, is October’s CHU giveaway winner with a recipe she tried from The New American Plate: Recipes for a Healthy Weight and a Healthy Life.   The recipe, Roasted Red Pepper and Corn Soup, was a hit at her house.  Tina says “it’s…

Read More