Perfect for summer, Tarragon Chicken Salad (plus a bonus salad recipe)
If I could only keep a handful of cookbooks, “The Silver Palate Cookbook” and “The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook” would be among them. Continue Reading
Doni Chamberlain
Mysterious medical condition: That’s just the way the cookie crumbles
My backyard is filled with bulbs I planted in the fall of 2021; a way for my family to remember me in the event I died before the following spring. The symptoms began with a sudden, persistent cough. To make… Continue Reading
4 herbs that will flourish for even novice North State gardeners
In the early 1900s a young woman, her husband and baby boy left their Greek homeland for passage to the United States to start a new life. Inside her coat she’d sewn a generational secret; a small bundle of oregano… Continue Reading
Anderson woman’s iris farm sells thousands of flowers of every imaginable name and color
The word “addiction” might be a tad strong when it comes to describing Teresa Moravec’s obsession with irises, but just barely. Moravec traces her love of all flowers to her mother and grandmother. “I’ve always loved gardening,” Moravec said as… Continue Reading
Breaking up (with stuff) is hard for Baby Boomers to do
The phone call was from a lovely woman I’d not seen in a while. It was good to hear her voice. She cut to the chase. “You wrote recently that you collect dishes, and silver serving pieces, too, right?” A… Continue Reading
Doni’s Very Best Carrot Cake: With such wholesome ingredients, it’s practically a health food
This is a purely anecdotal observation, but I’ve noticed that people who like carrot cake above all other cakes tend to be healthy eaters; the kind of people inclined to run marathons and are dedicated to yoga. Generally speaking these… Continue Reading
Everything I need to know about people I learned from my Little Free Library
A few years ago I fulfilled a rather simple but meaningful life goal: I placed a Little Free Library in front of my house. This minor bucket list acquisition took a little bit of doing. After all, it’s not as… Continue Reading
Broken water main builds unexpected neighborhood connections
It was exactly one week ago, shortly after 6 p.m., when I heard yelling outside my home. I rushed outdoors to my porch to investigate. There, I saw several neighbors standing on both sides of the street, hollering excitedly back… Continue Reading
Facebook Marketplace: A fun, profitable way to buy, sell, meet new people and see new places
I blame my Facebook Marketplace addiction on the fact that I work alone, from home. Plus, I am always on the hunt for cool stuff. In my defense, as addictions go, it beats crack, it’s fairly harmless, and it’s often… Continue Reading
Meet Mayocoba Bean & Ham Hock soup, the perfect winter comfort food
My plan was to prepare navy bean and ham hock soup, a winter staple. The west side Redding Grocery Outlet Bargain Market had lots of dried beans, but I was searching for white beans, either cannellini, navy beans, or great Northern beans beans. Continue Reading
