For St. Patrick's Day, I enjoy making a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner for the family. We're not Irish, but when you live in Saint Paul, MN -- a very Irish town that celebrates with a parade and all sorts of festivities -- it just feels right to have a little fun around this holiday. 

Some days I just need a little "pick me up" to keep moving through my day. If I drink caffeine beyond two o’clock I can’t sleep at night. That’s when I turn to the healthy, natural energy of honey to give me a boost…why do you think bees can stay so busy all day?

Recently, my husband, three children and I traveled from our home in Minnesota to South Carolina. We stayed on Hilton Head and visited both Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. When my sister-in-law, Kristen, initially learned of our vacation plans, she grew very excited.

I don’t know about you, but there are certain flavors combinations that I can’t turn down. I will try a recipe, no questions asked, if it features two of my favorite flavors.

We love to walk to the coffee shop a few blocks away, but it can be pricey to take a family of four out for lattés and muffins. It was an especially rainy day, so instead of going out I decided to bake a treat and brew coffee at home.

I mentioned in my blog last Thursday that I recently had a young family from my neighborhood over for dinner. Kirby and Anne brought their toddler Kendall and I also included my son, Ryan, and his wife, Amanda.

I love to dig into a good book, and over the years I’ve found friends, family and co-workers who feel the same. We share laughs, our ideas and our recommendations. And though it’s fun to discuss books casually, this love of reading has often made me wish that I could be part of an official book club. The opportunity just never arose… until now. At the end of this summer I thought, “Why don’t I start my own book club?” So, I gathered some friends, we set an autumn start date and our literary society began. First things first: we voted on a kick-off book – a memoir from a local Holocaust survivor (a fascinating story, by the way). Then came the next crucial question, “what will we do for food?”

I always fall into that trap of buying a bag of onions thinking "It's cheaper! And you get so much more!" Then, after baking a roast, making some vegetable soup and perhaps one or two other meals, I find myself at the bottom of the bag with no use for the last few wilting onions.  (Am I the only one this happens to?) The thing is, I have been raised with the "waste not, want not" attitude, so no way am I throwing those babies out! And off searching for an onion recipe I go.