FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Merry Christmas, and one and all
I have a confession to make. It’s embarrassing, but I divulge pretty much everything here, so I might as well include this: I have become one of those people who buys Christmas presents for her dogs. I have scoffed at this idea for most of my life, so this is ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A very different Christmas
It’s right here, folks, right in front of us. Finally. The big day – Christmas – is just one short week away. I Love this time of year. I love the baking and decorating, the shopping and wrapping. I love the surprises and get-togethers and smells of this glorious time ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Christmas lights a big deal around here
Do you love Christmas lights? Oh, I do. Of course, I’m talking about lights on houses during the months of November and December, maybe even part of January. I just can’t look at a house decorated with thousands of bright lights and be in a bad mood. By the same ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Families. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.
One of the Grand Dames of the family holidays is behind us, and the other (far bigger for many families) looms large before us. How are you doing so far? Christmas, or Chanukkah, or whatever you celebrate at this glorious time of the year, is practically upon us. These high ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Breaking up is hard to do, with food anyway.
Well, the big day of giving thanks is over, my friends. The turkey carcass is picked clean, the ham bone is all that’s left of that glorious mound of glistening pork, and the casseroles look ravaged and depleted. The food that remains, if any, should probably be thrown out sometime ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Black Thursday? Will you be there?
Thanksgiving is almost here; hard to believe, isn’t it? I’ve been seeing a lot of television commercials encouraging shoppers to put on their shin guards and bike helmets, and head out to stores right after eating the big dinner on Thursday. I don’t know about all that. It just doesn’t ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The High Holy Days of cooking are upon us
I had the honor and pleasure of being a guest author at the prestigious Dahlonega Literary Festival this past weekend, and I had a great time. If you’ve never been, you should mark your calendars now to attend next year at about this same time. It’s a reader’s (and a ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Teens are pros at pushing buttons
How many of you out there are parents of teenagers? Let me start out today by just saying this: Bless you. Parenting teenagers has to have been the most challenging, trying time in our parenting careers, and as happy as I am that we all came through it pretty much ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Pumpkin carving takes a new twist at our house
For the first time in 26 years, my husband and I undertook the task of carving our Halloween pumpkins without a single child anywhere in sight. To be honest, I put off the task until the very last minute, dreading the inevitable feeling of sadness I knew I’d feel with ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Mine’s bigger than yours (it’s all about horsepower)
I stepped way outside my comfort zone last week, electing to go into an auto parts store to purchase wiper blades for my car instead of adding one more thing to my husband’s to-do list. I’m about as comfortable in a place like that as he is in my hair ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: With age, comes privilege
I went to have lunch earlier this week with my 93-year-old father. He lives in a wonderful assisted living facility in Johns Creek, where the atmosphere is calming, pleasant and friendly. My dad is, for all practical purposes, blind, so this atmosphere matters even more to him than they might ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Halloween candy an accurate measure of will power
It’s here again, folks. That time of year when every retailer from small drug stores to super-big-box utopias display those tempting Halloween treats from one end of the store to the other. I get hooked every time, walking by those well-marketed end-caps whispering and winking and opening their coats to ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Dressing up your dog for Halloween? I’m just not sure.
We have three dogs in our home, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned here before a few dozen times. They’re all rescues, and we adore them. We’ve had two Golden Retrievers for years, and this summer we adopted a 2.5 pound Chihuahua. It’s been a process, but they’re starting to get ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: In the south, Gravy is a love language
Have you read the best-selling book “The Five Languages of Love?” In the book, author Gary Chapman outlines five ways that couples “speak” to one another through actions and reactions, and the book teaches lovers how to affirm one another. It’s brilliant, really. I think he’s right on the money. ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Danny and Rhea? Say it isn’t so!
Have you noticed lately that the popular morning network “news” shows lead off with about 8 to 10 minutes of news, and then slip into the clownish, messy world of show business gossip for the next couple of hours? I have, and it really disheartens me. This phenomenon, I think, ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Home improvement superstores theme parks for men
My husband loves home improvement stores, and when I say he loves them, I mean it. When we step across the threshold of one of those Do-It-Yourself mega-marts early on a Saturday morning, his eyes light up, his heart rate increases, and he becomes dangerously over-stimulated. The short list of ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Debating the debate
Well, the first presidential debate is behind us, and I for one am exhausted. I watched it, and frankly I didn’t hear anything I haven’t already heard. Unfortunately, debates tend to be performances, not information-disseminating events, and I’m talking at any level, from city mayor on up to POTUS. Trust ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The smallest patients teach us so much
I had the opportunity recently to visit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; specifically, the AFLAC Cancer Center at that wonderful hospital. I must say, as hospitals go, Children’s is the cheeriest and happiest I’ve ever seen, and from the cafeteria workers to the nurses, therapists and physicians, the staff are absolutely ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Laugh or cry, the ending’s still the same
Have you ever had one of those days, make that one of those years, when it seems that everything that could go wrong, does? Unexpected expenses crop up, health problems arise, a family crisis unfolds. It’s been said that bad things come in threes. I suppose an argument can be ...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Southern potluck same as chicken soup
We Southerners have a way of making everything better, in our own unique way. Whether someone is sick or bereaved or has just had a baby, we believe that a homemade casserole or cake or plate of cookies is just what the doctor ordered. And it is. Oh, it’s not ...
