Today, our family gathered at Sarah and Gregorio’s house for our Thanksgiving. We celebrate on Friday so our daughters can be with their partners’ families on Thanksgiving Day. (Ray and I often join in, which is especially nice.) Today, we had lots of food, fun, and laughter. We left with smiles, though we’d all admit…

I have just returned from a lovely day at my son-in-law Ron’s mother’s home, where we celebrated Thanksgiving with Cindy, family, and friends. We had lots of delicious food and a relaxed afternoon of conversation and laughter. Thank you, Cindy Betty, for hosting us today! Tomorrow, we head to our daughter Sarah’s house, where we’ll…

I have made Ina Garten’s gravy for Thanksgiving dinner for several years now and it is not only delicious but also foolproof. My daughter Rachael insists that I make this gravy for every major holiday meal and has also sent the recipe to several of her friends who tasted it at our house. How’s that…

One of my great pleasures as the days cool off is drinking a cup of hot tea. I have just returned to this ritual recently and my current tea of choice is Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice Herbal Tea. My daughter Sarah introduced me to this particular flavor and the unique blend of spices makes this…

This is a story I wrote very quickly for a class I recently participated in. The prompt was to look at a recent text and take a line or so from it as a way to jump into a story. The text message I chose was from Ray when he was flying back from Texas….

I post this recipe every year because it is so easy, the result is so good, and your guests will never know it’s made from honey. It is also extremely pretty on your holiday table. We will make our cranberry sauce tomorrow. It only gets better every day. Ray’s Cranberry Sauce Recipe 2 12 oz….

Today was the wedding of Will Griffith and Dory Johnson at St. James Episcopal Church in Dallas Will is the son of two of our friends in Texas, Dav and Carol Griffith. We had hoped to attend the wedding but didn’t want to be out of town so soon after Nico’s surgery. Instead, Dav sent…

Today, our 7-year-old grandson Nico had a 4 1/2 hour surgery at Cedar Sinai Hospital for an ear condition called cholesteatoma, which according to the NHS is “an abnormal collection of skin cells deep inside the ear, which can damage the delicate structures inside the ear that are essential for hearing and balance.” The surgeon…

I received a comment yesterday on my blog, “20 Minutes a Day” about a piece I wrote on Mani’s Bakery in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. Turns out the comment was from the bakery’s owner himself, a man I have never met. He wrote: Wow! What a treat to read this! That’s my…