Growing up with food allergies, I have a lot of sympathy for people who have food intolerances or have to give up or limit some of their favorite foods. Luckily for me, none of my allergies are severe enough to force me to give up my favorite things altogether—just limit my intake—but I can tell you from experience that a […]

I can’t believe school enrollment is already beginning. This summer just flew by for me. While talking about school, the subject of favorite lunches came up recently, and I started craving a big bowl of mashed potatoes smothered in chicken and thick noodles. I’ve made chicken noodle soup plenty of times, but there’s something very different about the kind of […]

Awhile back, we were planning to go see a movie with some friends of ours, and they suggested a sushi place for dinner beforehand. Joey and I were a bit nervous, because we hadn’t ever delved into the world of sushi before, but we trusted our friends, so we decided to give it a try. For me, I’m not a […]

I can’t believe it’s already time for the produce section to be full of beautiful, juicy peaches. I get excited for this moment every year, and the first day I saw some fresh peaches at my local grocery store, I immediately tossed some in my shopping basket before I was even sure what I was going to do with them. […]

A few years ago, we met a young newspaper editor from Kentucky while we were at a conference. She’s one of those “do it all” folks and in addition to being a managing editor, she runs a small farm. I’m friends with her on Facebook, and now that summer is in full swing, I enjoy seeing the photos of her […]

Every time it was our family’s turn to bring snacks for any event—youth group, school functions, you name it—my friends would immediately ask, “Is your mom going to make cookies?” When my sister or I would announce that we needed to bring something yummy to share, Mom didn’t need to ask us what we wanted her to whip up. The […]

In a little less than a month, I’ll be heading off to one of my favorite places on Earth: Camp Mennoscah. I love it for many reasons—the beauty, the people, the connection with God through nature—but one thing I always look forward to is the food. While my co-director and I get to run around with a bunch of 8 […]

If I had to identify one problem with my pantry (and I doubt I’m alone in this), it’s that I have these bags, containers, etc. of partially used ingredients from new recipes I tried that didn’t call for an entire package of whatever special item that particular kitchen experiment needed. Recently, I found myself with just a bit more dark […]

There were quite a number of years when I was younger that I wouldn’t eat cherry pie, despite always having loved it. My last piece before my break with the dessert was while sitting at my grandparents’ dining room table. “You know,” my cousins told me, “those aren’t cherries. Those are baby animal hearts.” I immediately dismissed them as liars, […]

I was digging through our refrigerator last week, reorganizing and looking for hidden “treasures” that were stuffed into the back corners when I stumbled on some packets of yeast. I cringed a little, because I didn’t really remember when I bought them, and they were well over their expiration date. In a waste-not-want-not mood, I did some Internet searching on […]