It’s never to early to plan for Christmas dinner, in my opinion. (Well, as long as it’s already December, I mean.) Having just waded through massive piles of great provender a few days ago, it may be hard for some of you to set your sights on the next Big Meal. Well, we here [...]

1. Time to Move to the Ranch and Prepare to Feast Fun at the White House (Boerne Branch) is over...

No, I’m not talking about your in-laws, although you may be spending some time with them soon. (I certainly will. And that’s a Good Thing.) We’re now less than 170 hours until the annual contest to see who can get their tryptophan coma on first. Of course, if excess dressing, gravy, mashed and sweet [...]

1. Everybody, Let’s Get Ready for Mardi Gras! Okay, so you can’t make it to New Orleans...
2. Starting the Big Week on NaNoWriMo Ah, better living through chemistry! Whatever is in those...
3. An Exciting Week: A Holiday for Presidents, National Chili Day and More You’ll have to go far to find a month...

My mom grew up in a large farm family (seven girls, one boy, one bathroom) and all of them learned to cook. So one of the first things you can expect when the Clan gathers for a major event is a big meal, somewhere. Aunt Reba got tagged this time…

We were only a few [...]

We’ve had all the hot days and no rain we can stand. We’re on the road to Lamar, Missouri, birthplace of “Give’em Hell Harry” and a large number of like-minded folk, many of whom are relatives. We expect cool mornings, great food, unbelievable tales (and believe me, nobody will be believing them), fishing attempts [...]

Okay, so you can’t make it to New Orleans for the celebrations. You can still have fun at your place! Tuesday evening you can celebrate in style, as befitting a proper Fat Tuesday. You can go back on your diet the next morning, on Ash Wednesday.

So, what plans have you made? We’re still considering [...]

Today is Chinese New Year 2011, as the moon slides across from old to new and starts a new lunar month. Often called Spring Festival, there are more people in the world who celebrate this particular annual beginning than any other. There are other lunar New Year events, including Islamic New Year, Rosh Hashana, [...]

The Occasionally Annual White House Soupfest, Domino Marathon and Bragging Contest made its biggest showing in decades on Saturday. We had folks from far and wide stop by, set a spell and eat. Man, did we eat! Then, when we couldn’t force any more calories down the pipe we broke out the dominoes and [...]

I’d like to pause today, in the middle of the Month of Eating Dangerously, and remember a special group of Americans who served so that we can celebrate in peace this Holiday season. I’m talking about the American soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians in Hawaii who defended against an unprovoked attack, many giving their [...]

No time to play today, but I want to share with you the December Book of the Month: The All-American Christmas Cookbook from Chronicle Books. Normally I’m not much interested in omnibus cookbooks, but this one caught my eye recently at a bookstore. it’s a fairly new release (2007) and has recipes from all [...]

I felt bad all day. I’m sure it couldn’t be due to overeating on Thanksgiving like a hungry pig at a trough of fresh acorns. Some of my nephews have had the swine H1N1 influenza, but that was weeks ago; they can’t still be infectious, can they? Not that I’m paranoid or anything, you [...]