In 2013, I wrote a post about Sarah Josepha Hale, a major contributor to the American Thanksgiving celebration. I have re-posted it before, ...

Every November I post about Thanksgivings past and present. This year it's especially hard to think about what the holiday has meant ove...

Hard Rain  by Irma Venter is a thriller, and quite suspenseful! I chose to read it because it reflects a culture that's completely unfam...

The Rye Baker by Stanley Ginsberg along with the starters for a loaf of Polish Mountain rye bread. The newest bread book in our collection ...

Perilous Bounty, published August, 2020 The problems of agriculture in American society have been made worse by the pandemic and by pol...

Vienna, 1906. A series of murders baffles the police, and can be solved only through the psychological deductions of Max Liebermann, a  medi...

"The first and foremost thing to understand about hoboes is that hoboes are not bums. Got that?  Hoboes are not bums.  Hoboes fully emb...

What do Americans eat for breakfast? Ask them and they will tell you they eat something very healthy and admirable -- probably never a ...

  Do you play the game “AmongUs” ? I didn’t think so. However a mural painter here in Ann Arbor who does know the game has painted an AmongU...

A few kayaks are still on the river -- not ours, though. ...

The Searcher by Tana French (published last month) has many of the same features as her several earlier novels that I’ve read: suspense, vi...

Here's a nice old ballad from folk singer Tom Paxton -- not what you would call a drinking song, more of an anti-drinking song. However,...

"So why is GBBO asking bakers to steam an originally Chinese bun and fill it with Chinese or Indian ingredients during Japan Week?...

A dumpling filled with minced lamb and spices. Another beautiful warm day with several things to celebrate. Just as we were leaving for an o...