If you were a young child in the early 1990s or the parent of such a child, you may know the TV show "Lamb Chop's Play-Along,...

Yesterday was a dreary day filled with gray skies and freezing rain.  Fortunately, I had planned for such a day and had all the ingredients...

Brrr!  It's been cold, and Alfie got chilly.  Okay, I just think Alfie got chilly because, after all, he didn't show any signs like...

When I was growing up, my mother would occasionally make meatballs and cabbage.  It was never my favorite dish -- I prefer my cabbage raw -...

Check out my assistant who is "helping" me complete the never-ending sampler blanket. If I stare at you long enough, will yo...

After a couple of days of unseasonably warm weather, winter is back in northern Illinois.  We've had almost no snow this winter, but it...

I keep an electric hand mixer around for small jobs or when I just don't want to lug out the heavy Kitchen Aid.  I've been nursing ...

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house and kitchen, the cookies were baked and frozen -- to prevent the spouse from snitc...

Once upon a time, I was a Christmas decorator at a local house museum.  It was then that I began making Christmas decorations.  A good frie...

Remember that old knock-knock joke?  Orange you glad I didn't say banana?  Well, I made a new Christmas cookie that's no joke -- Or...

With apologies to T. S. Eliot and J. Alfred Prufrock, I cannot measure out my life with coffee spoons because I don't drink coffee. Re...

Winter is almost here, at least in most parts of the U.S., so why am I writing about ice cream?  This year on Thanksgiving, I served ice cr...

I love words.  As a writer and an editor, I guess that's not much of a surprise.  Written or spoken, words are what get me.  I've ...

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere, and not a pie in sight!  Pumpkins have invaded the courthouse lawn in Sycamore, Illinois, so it must be P...

Front porch wreath, burlap wrapped for fall Today I am relaxing and working at home on this rainy Monday to recover from a whirlwind we...

I haven't had a lot to write about lately, but I thought today I'd share a couple of images. My office is a little cubby under ...

"Beware the barrenness of a busy life."  When Socrates said this, I doubt he was talking about my dinner table, but he might as w...

In the fall of 1981, Mrs. Haggard made the best coffee cake I had ever tasted.  I was in my first year of graduate school. Mrs. Haggard ...

I have been a hooking fool, ya'll.  Since my last post about my crochet square project, I have made fourteen more squares.  This ha...