Dragon Lady

Eating is getting to be a pretty scary proposition. So what are we, the wary and cash strapped consumers to do? Well, one option is to become a locovor.

I live in the desert and the majority of my family lives in the East and Midwest and every summer we squabble over who has the worst summer weather.

What I admired most about George was his use of words, at first to shock us, then to get us to look closer at their meanings and manipulations.

About a month ago, our beloved 12 year old dog's kidney ailment suddenly took a turn for the worse and we had to make some very difficult decisions. It was one of the longest and most heartbreaking weekends of our lives.

As the two month bacchanal of feasting and partying known as "the holiday season" nears an end many of us are loosening our belts and thinking that losing some weight and getting in shape would be a great new years resolution.

When the Wampanoag Indians and Plymouth colonists sat down to their autumn harvest feast, or what we traditional celebrate as the first Thanksgiving, they probably didn't eat the same things we do today.

I don't have any warm, cozy, over-the-river-and-through-the-woods childhood memories of Thanksgiving.What I do think about at Thanksgiving is my father's cooking.

Now that all the jack 'o lanterns have been extinguished and tossed on the compost heap, let's think about pumpkins less as decorations and more as what they essentially are: food.

Once the almost exclusive domain of those in the food and beverage trade large wine tasting are becoming more popular as culinary fair events and venues for fundraising open to the general public.

The Days of the Dead, a celebration that combined the scary, raucous elements of Halloween with the spiritual aspects of respecting and honoring the dead.

Everyone who likes to cook has one; a shoe box, file folder or drawer where they keep recipes they've torn out of magazines, printed off web sites or had passed along to them by family and friends.

The Harry Potter stories are essentially an episodic fairy tale that not only transports the reader to another world, but also teach valuable life lessons, as fairy tales were designed to do.

One of my favorite 4th of Julys was the year that I decided to forgo BBQ in favor of Cioppino, a delicious fish stew that originated on the docks of San Francisco.

The smell of dill always reminds me of my paternal grandmother's garden, which in turn makes me think of my grandmother's homemade pickles, preserved in a large ceramic crock in the root cellar of her house.

A review of the cookbook inspired by Clotilde Dusoulier's succesful food website of the same name.

My co-worker, Lisa, believes that the only thing better than chocolate is chocolate with caramel, a sentiment that I share.

Every day about 3 pm my energy level starts dropping like a rock. I usually jump-start it with a shot of espresso, or some chocolate, sometimes both, but lately I've been tempted by the multitudinous selection of energy drinks on the market.

Mint is used in many cuisines, particularly Middle Eastern and Mediterranean lamb dishes, salads and sauces. It's also the main ingredient is several refreshing cocktails such as the traditional Derby Day julep and the trendy Mojito.

Many Americans think of parsley as mere garnishment; the curly sprig on our restaurant plate right next to the lemon wedge, or the handful of greenery tossed onto a bland looking dish to give it some color.

It is tricky, but not impossible. It takes preparation, planning and perseverance. My first attempts at desert gardening were disasters, but over the years I've learned how to work with the desert instead of against it.

The Greek word aspharagos means, "as long as one's throat," and it is said the vegetable derived it's name from the practice of enthusiastic diners swallowing the vegetable whole.

Whether you are an experienced cook looking for adventure, or a nervous novice in need of guidance, the Flavorbank Spice Market is the place to go.

Wikipedia defines a salon as "a gathering of stimulating people of quality under the roof of an inspiring hostess or host, partly to amuse one another and partly to refine their taste and increase their knowledge through conversation and readings."

The focal point of my kitchen is my grandmother's Grand stove made by the Cleveland Co-operative Stove Company in 1929. It's the stove on which she learned to cook and where she taught my father and then me how to cook.

I know that the weather is still blustery in most of the country, but after what was for us a cold, wet winter, Tucson is experiencing an early spring. With temperatures in the 80's it's sandal weather and time to get a pedicure.