I love Sweet and Sour Chicken. It doesn't matter if it's in a restaurant or homemade. Linda likes it too, as long as there are plenty of sweet pickle chunks in it. The problem is that it is not necessarily nutritious in that you serve it over rice or noodles, each of which add 100 calories and 20 grams of carbohydrates for our senior citizen servin...

Stemming from Lutheran traditions in the late 19th century, we have the Christmas tradition of the Advent Calendar. Originally made of wood the structures, small or large, had either 24 or 25 doors to count down the days of December, one at a time, until either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. In times past, small homemade candies, toys, and treats ...

Great dining events hover upon the horizon. Yet, let us dwell not upon the Christmas Feast, nor upon the Thanksgiving Groaning Board. For these culinary events are but a part of larger annual celebrations, predictable both in content and flavor profile. Rather, let us look forward to that extended period of darkness, weather chill, and nutritional ...

We all have places we want to go, things we want to do, and experiences we want to have in our lives. It's only natural, I suppose. Some of us want to attend the Super Bowl, others the Rose Parade, or a Papal audience. Maybe your dream is to visit the top of the Eiffel Tower or the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Antarctica, or the Macy's Thanksgiving ...

If you know me, you know that I'm driven to create. Creating comes in many forms. I am a worker in wood. I write stories and books. I love to cook. All are forms of creation. I'll admit that my woodwork is not world famous. Those who have read my books are numbered in tens. And, those who have enjoyed the fruits of my culinary labors are limited to...

Well, I'm sure there are a thousand recipes for rice, but I just want to point out a few familiar, flavorful, and famous ones as an example of the versatility of that tiny white grain. Each of these recipes is a cultural icon in its own right, yet each is a close cousin to the other. I'm talking about Paella (Spain), Jambalaya (The U.S. South), and...

A tip the pot lid to Oryza Sativa – Asian rice, first domesticated in the Yangtze River basin between 8,200 and 13,500 years ago. Quite simply, rice is the world's food. Sixty percent of the world's population obtains its major nutrition from rice. While more corn is produced than rice, annually, most corn is processed into other inedible products,...

I saved the best for last, creamed chipped beef on toast. I'm not sure when I was first introduced to this comfy delight. It may have been in my childhood, or certainly at Navy Boot Camp in 1965. The Armed Forces Recipe Service version (AFRS card L052) is a mixture of salty and creamy, but remains otherwise boring. That said, I don't remember lefto...

Previously known as the General Mess Historically known as The Mess Decks or Chow Hall Now that we've got the politically correct renaming of that place where millions of American's have eaten breakfast out of the way, I want to jog memories of dented steel trays, one-size-fits-all spoons, and coffee cups full of grainy reconstituted orange juice. ...

For the past several years we've undertaken to grow tomatoes. Each year, we get fewer, despite moving the garden from place to place, changing varieties, and feeding them routinely. We just never seemed to get many tomatoes. It's because there are fewer bees in the neighborhood to pollinate. Fast forward to this year. We now own an Aerogarden indoo...

My guess is that any college student has eaten the kindergarten version of Phô, the savory Vietnamese soup rich in noodles, broth and veggies. We call it Ramen and it comes with a square of dried noodles and a foil package of flavored salt for the soup base.  At its most basic, that is phô. Now, I've discovered that this soup is adaptable in m...

If you make your own pasta, I invite you to read on. If not ... read on, anyway. You might want to try it. We all remember the pain of pasta. Dump your measured flour on the work surface. Make a well in the center. Crack the eggs into the center and sprinkle with salt. Then, using your fingers, gently work the eggs, pulling the flour in until it's ...

Okay, so I'm staying home. That doesn't mean binging on 'Outlander' or staring at the walls. I had a desire to bake bread; simple and hearty rustic bread. The recipe is 'no knead' and takes less than five minutes from ingredients to rise. It has no milk, eggs, oil or sugar; only flour, yeast, salt and water. And this is half a recipe! You'll even s...

One of my fondest memories of food at during my time in the Navy were the hearty breakfasts. There was a quartet of yummy tummy-filling goodness, Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast, Creamed Beef (ground beef) on Toast, Sausage Gravy on Toast and Minced Beef on Toast. Over the years, Linda has perfected the Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast and Sausage Gravy...