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Brightening Beer Facial
After an exhausting weekend helping my daughter pack and clean her apartment and then relocating her hundreds of miles away, this old lady needed some TLC. Before leaving home, I’d read an article...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (8/8/14)
“Splish, splash, I was takin’ a bath . . .” sings an Acorn Woodpecker as he splashes around in the top tier of my backyard fountain. Goldfinches stop short of landing on the rim once they eye the big...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (10/31/14)
Everyday, moments of joy exist in your life. How many of them do you recognize and acknowledge? Joy doesn’t always hit you over the head and scream, “Hey you! This is what joy feels like!” A joyful...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (11/28/14)
The demolished turkey platter sits pitifully on the table. People, who once engaged in lively conversation, sit in food comas with their pants unbuttoned. The Thanksgiving feast is a thing of the...
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Christmastime Chai
The cookbook introduction to this recipe states, “In India, chai is a traditional tea that blends exotic spices and black tea with boiled milk and water to create a beverage refreshing to body, mind...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (1/9/15)
In the stillness of a winter garden, where many plants rest to conserve their energy, songbirds flit here and there while singing their songs. When skies are more grey than blue and when landscapes...
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Baked Cake Doughnuts With Chocolate Glaze
“Can I have a doughnut with my sprinkles, please?” To anyone who drools over doughnuts in bakery cases, there is no denying that sprinkles put the happy in these circular wonders. This past Christmas...
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A Taste of Nostalgia: Chinese Steamed Pork Turnovers
My Yin Yin, my father’s mother, calls out my name in Chinese and I drop what I am doing and run to the kitchen. I know that a fresh batch of homemade Fun Guaw, savory Chinese turnovers, have finished...
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Bavarian Pretzels
One bite into a warm homemade pretzel and I was hooked. Like so many other baked items, pretzels are so much better when they’re made from scratch. Bearing a plate of freshly-baked pretzels, my friend...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (3/20/15)
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Reading this six-word piece of flash fiction, purportedly penned by author Ernest Hemingway, always made me feel sad. Like other people, I wondered about the tragic...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (3/27/15)
The woodworker stood back and looked at his project. While pouring his heart into the design and construction of it, his mind focused on only one thing – the purpose of it. At a recent meeting of...
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Blueberry Tamari Greens Bowl With Lemongrass Tofu
A bowl of salad should contain wholesome and healthy ingredients. Not all do. With spinach, tofu, almonds, blueberries, and cucumbers as its primary ingredients, this Asian-inspired salad is loaded...
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Corn-Cheese Mighty Muffins
Sometimes in life, bigger is better. Imagine a muffin that’s larger than a teacup. That translates to more crunchy muffin top to enjoy and more tender muffin to savor. This recipe won’t disappoint....
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Dwaeji-Galbi: Korean Barbequed Pork Ribs
If barbequed ribs and Buffalo chicken wings top your list of favorite foods, you’ll love these easy Korean spareribs. Both HOT and sweet, these ribs will have you reaching for a glass of water, but...
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Chunky Lola Cookies
The lyrics from the Broadway song, “Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets,” plays in my head while I make these cookies. In the musical Damn Yankees, Lola is a seductress hired by the devil. I don’t have a...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (5/29/15)
In a center that provides services for women and children in need, a small floral bouquet sits in a vase. Sunlight streams in from a window and illuminates a rose, making its outer petals glow....
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Firecracker Ice Pops
Sweet ripe berries of summer combine with wholesome yogurt to create swirling frozen treats. These ice pops will refresh you even on the hottest days of summer. They’re pretty good at soothing the...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (7/10/15)
Buster dashes through the opened front door, runs past the kitchen filled with delicious aromas, and heads straight to the back door. He longingly stares through the glass panes of the door and then...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (7/17/15)
Under silhouettes of tree canopies and a summer sky sprinkled with shooting stars, I swim laps in the dark tranquil water of my pool. My strokes, while unrefined, transport me back and forth, during...
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Friday’s Fresh Five! (8/14/15)
Resembling a drunk, my granddaughter Charlotte teeters back and forth on unsteady legs as she walks towards me. Deciding to carry the largest and heaviest toy in the room, she makes frequent balance...
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