After a couple of weeks of light grocery shopping (I had three weeks of meals in the freezer after all), I went to Wal-Mart on Saturday with a big list, including some Valentine’s treats for Steve and the boys. I knew before I left the house that this trip would result in a long receipt with a big … Read more
food – noun | \ˈfüd\ : the things that people and animals eat : a particular kind of food : substances taken in by plants and used for growth By the time I was peeling a dozen peaches with juice running down my arms, I already had the baked beans baking and the roasted potatoes roasting. […] Read more
“I have an idea,” I said to my oldest and youngest step-sons. We were all sitting in the bleachers with my husband and father-in-law watching our middle son play baseball. Well, we were at least sitting in the bleachers at the game. Watching was optional. My two boys were each finishing up their nachos, trying […] Read more
I open the double-layered, wax-coated paper to reveal the slightly frozen chunks of bright red beef, each piece clinging to the others like magnets. Two pounds of the meat gleams from the white paper on the counter as the olive oil heats on the stove next to me. Because my step sons love it, I […] Read more
For most of the past 10 years, it has been my goal to get up early in the morning and write. Though I’m not a natural morning person — hopping out of bed before the alarm singing zippity-do-da — I do find that I do my best writing in the morning once I’m up and going. And it only takes about 15 minutes for me to wake up. Read more
I was supposed to be doing the vacuuming and laundry and dishes–the normal cleaning that makes the house livable. And the house needed a good cleaning. It had been a busy week. But though I don’t even remember opening the cabinets or walking into the pantry area, the next thing I knew, I was taking […] Read more
My mouth started watering as I walked around the “Big Food” showing at the Watts Fine Art Gallery in Zionsville. I had received an announcement about the paintings of giant pieces of pie and enormous bowls of Fruit Loops, and the pictures on the gallery website had been intriguing. But I never imagined a painting […] Read more
I looked around my house one day, just last week, and thought, why don’t I have any pictures of my family sitting out? Where is that small postcard of the ships I framed from my trip to Washington last summer? What did I do with my Precious’ ashes? I know I haven’t buried them yet. […] Read more
A few years ago, I heard a broadcast on National Public Radio about artisan bread anyone could make in just five minutes a day. The process involved just four ingredients, a little mixing, almost no kneading, and a great deal of waiting. The chef behind the idea had written a book which explained the process […] Read more
“Take the next 30 seconds or so and write down specifically what you have done in the past three months to help the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, or in prison,” our pastor asked us this morning. He was preaching from Matthew 25, the parable of the sheep and the goats, and making a list […] Read more
