Lasagna Is Part of Christmas If food isn’t one of your priorities, you might want to skip this post. On the other hand, if you want to see what a great Christmas dinner looks like, read on. Family And Food My apologies for missing a few weeks of posts, but family and holidays take precedence, […]
Family Isn’t Dead Everyone has problems, and sometimes problems have a way of multiplying as we grow older. Worries heaped atop other worries, and those on top of physical issues. Despite that, I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world. I grew up in the most loving family I can imagine. And […]
Pretty Girl—No Home Yet, But Safe Back in June, I wrote a post about Pretty Girl, a pit bull rescue who was dumped on our sanctuary. She was one of several who had been left there, and it was obvious from looking at her that she had been abused or used for fighting. She was […]
Figs With Gorgonzola I had my annual stress test yesterday. I normally avoid scheduling any such test in the month of July for a number of reasons, but the number one reason is because of figs. You heard me right—figs! They are at the top of my list when it comes to foods to die for. […]
A Late Thank You for a Father’s Day Gift Being a person who cherishes a well-prepared meal—and being Catholic besides—I have often wondered what food is served in heaven. And that is making a huge assumption that I earn my way there. I know homemade ricotta is there, but what else? Sure-Fire Menu Items I know […]
On Being Married For 45 Years On July 4th, Mikki and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary. Way back in 1969, on a scorching hot Independence Day, we swore vows to each other. I was 17. She was still 16. But we knew what swearing to a vow meant. It was the way we were […]
What Do Newspapers, Money Clips, and Garlic Have To Do With Life? I lost my father when I was still a young man of 27. That’s a lot more time than many people get, but it was too early for him to go. I still had a lot to learn. But every year on father’s […]
Do You Need Someone To Hate? I don’t understand all of the hatred and vitriol in the world today. It seems like you can’t read the news or turn on the TV without seeing an example of hate crimes and prejudice. Whites hating blacks, blacks hating whites, Christians hating Muslims, Muslims hating Jews, straights hating […]
How To Cook A Character Characters form the basis for all good writing. It doesn’t matter how good your storytelling is, or how intricate and complex the plot, if you don’t have great characters your novel won’t shine. I have come to realize that character development is very similar to cooking, especially cooking red sauce. […]
As many of you know, my daughter, Aliza, is a professional genealogist. She writes for several Italian-American newspapers and has posted articles here in the past. People’s interest in their family history has grown tremendously in the past several years, and with that in mind, I thought you might be interested in learning a little […]
