“Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.†— Jennie Paddleford to her daughter, Clementine [H]ow is it possible that, in the four years I attended Kansas State University, majoring in journalism, spending two years working on the school’s daily newspaper, The Collegian, and even planning and […]
[I] have complete respect for the days set aside to honor, including Jan. 19, which is also National Popcorn Day. That being said, it occurs to me there is no day set aside to honor the First Americans. Some of us choose not to forget. In so doing, I honor […]
[O]ne dark night, a long time ago, I sat down on the couch by myself after a very rough day, probably one of the worst in my life. I’d been handed down some news so devastating that it seemed insurmountable. My life was different from that point on. I no […]
“[O]n a table cluttered with empty cups stands a small typewriter with a sheet of pink paper stuck in the roller. Although at the moment the page is utterly blank, I am convinced that someday, there will be a message for me there. I am waiting.†— Jean-Dominique Bauby, “The […]
[E]ver get a hankering? We all have those moments where a thought of something is not only drool-worthy, but urging enough to send us hunting down said object of our drool. That being, for me occasionally, a hush puppy (more than one, most likely). It is not the cod basket […]
[I] wanted to feature a spring bread in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, preferably a scone. But my mind kept going back to something I baked several years ago and hoped to return to again. Was an Apple Scone Cake — a layered scone and apple creation — a bread, […]
[C]ertain things quell a troubled soul like no other. Comfort foods — they have just the right combination of taste, texture, color and smell to bring immediate relief and send all worry and strife scurrying. If I could choose just one comfort food — or one dessert, for that matter […]
[O]f the vast array of grains available to cook and bake with on the market, I continue to return again and again to a favorite — oats. The old standby, the stick-to-your-ribs standard, that reminds one of childhood and the comforting warmth a bowl can bring. So humble, yet versatile. […]
[O]ne of my earliest kitchen memories is of lying on the linoleum floor, being fanned. Not fanned exactly, but taking full advantage of the warm, sweet wind made by my mother waving a cookie sheet back and forth to cool it before she loaded it with a new batch of […]
[W]e come to find things in a seemingly roundabout way…or do we? Perhaps it is true that there are no accidents and that coincidence is not merely that. What led me to a most delicious pie recipe was my mother, whose fancy and instinct was successfully piqued as she nosed […]