The Spiderwick Chronicles opens in theaters this Thursday, February 14th. Sweet. No pun intended at all. I'm looking forward to seeing it. This is another of those book series that my family just inhales. We love the books and we've all been anxious to check out the film.

If you've never read the books, the story is pure fantasy interwoven into reality - the discovery of a world within our world.
Jared Grace, after moving… Read More

My husband and I don't usually celebrate Valentine's Day together. Our wedding anniversary is just four short days later, so we save up our babysitting allotment (read: The one day the teens don't complain about watching the little ones) for that day.

When we find ourselves in the no-money-no-babysitter situation, the next best thing is putting the kids to bed and having dinner together while we watch a DVD. To be completely honest, most of the time "dinner" on those… Read More

Most Super Bowl parties consist of fans of one single team - everyone rooting for the same side, but what happens when you have rivals in your midst? Ply them with good food. This year, Super Bowl XLII (that's 42 for those of us with Roman Numeral deficiencies), it's the New England Patriots up against the New York Giants. I've come up with one big menu with great dishes that showcase both New England… Read More

Recently, on a forum I help moderate, a poster asked about my menus, which we post weekly, and what my food budget was since many of my meals sounded expensive. I told her that most likely it was all in the wording.

A day after that discussion, I saw a cooking show on which polenta was being made. This wasn't the stiff wedges oftentimes accompanied by a tomato sauce, but a thick and hearty spoonable type. I watched as cheese… Read More

When I was in kindergarten my teacher read to our class the story of Stone Soup. There are many versions of the popular folk tale so I don't exactly remember which one, but I bet it was Marcia Brown's Stone Soup . Her story of three hungry and weary soldiers seeking food and lodgings in a small village is still my favorite.

After the story was read, we had the chance to make stone soup as a class. It started,… Read More

This is one of my most cherished recipes - a true comfort to me. These are my grandma's brownies. I have no idea where she happened upon this recipe, but I've never had any like this and don't expect to.

Grandma Sharp's Brownies

In two 8x8 baking pans (grandma always used metal pans), melt 1 stick of margarine in each.

In a medium bowl mix together 2 cups sugar and 2 T cocoa (grandma meant SERVING tablespoon so, about 1/2 c or slightly more)

Add melted

… Read More