I was a repeat guest on the GROWING BOLDER RADIO SHOW recently, with hosts Marc Middleton and Bill Shafer. In case you missed it . . . just click on this link to listen in! Enjoy the show!

To be authentic, according to most authorities on authenticity, is to be true to one’s own self, to one’s own nature. I suppose Paula Deen, while instructing viewers to add butter, sugar, and more butter and sugar, to her recipes–allegedly based on her “Grandmama Paul’s Southern cooking”–was being authentic, even as she was helping millions of Americans enter the growing group known as “obese.” . . . MORE »

I know my story is your story too.

Five years ago, I turned 50. It felt as though everything changed overnight. 
In my 20s, 30s and 40s, I charged ahead with life, first throwing myself into my career — I worked as a magazine publisher — and then, in my late 30s, meeting my husband, getting married and having children. 
Those busy years almost seemed like one long decade, during which I didn’t feel any different about how I looked or acted. 
I never stopped to think about what impact the way I was living might have down the road. . . . MORE »

There are a few things I discovered in 2011 that have become my “can’t live without and would bring on a desert island” staples. The list is short — primarily because I’m a huge believer in “less is more” — and all of these aren’t new to the marketplace . . . just new to me. Maybe you’ve been using them already, and if so, hey! . . . why didn’t you tell me about them sooner?   . . . MORE »

I love traditions and rituals, especially if they’re connected to food.

One of my favorites is gathering as many family members as possible for a day of making Christmas Cookies in my home. But not just any cookies. The ones my grandmother–who was from a small town in Germany–used to make. We crank on the Christmas songs, sing along, have a glass of wine, and celebrate the holiday season. . . . MORE »