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I received an e-mail in April from Chef Luke Peters of the Edgewood Road Hy-Vee. He was having a recipe contest at the store and asked if I’d like to be a judge. Food judging is perhaps my favorite perk of this job, so I wrote back “Yes!” and marked the date on my calendar. [...]
continue »“You, OK? I learned it from watching you!” I was in elementary school when that anti-drug public service announcement first aired on television, but that iconic line still strikes a chord, albeit a humorous one. I’ve seen that scene parodied on TV shows and in greeting cards, and have even shouted it a few times [...]
continue »When I started working for The Gazette in January 2008, I was the community reporter. My job was to write feature stories about interesting people and places in Eastern Iowa. It was a broad job description, but one I enjoyed because I was forced to leave the comfort of the newsroom behind and into small towns [...]
continue »“Don’t forget, I have to work Friday night.” I said that to my husband as we were loading the dishwasher on a recent Sunday evening, enjoying the final few hours of the weekend before the busy week ahead. He noted it on the family calendar hanging in our kitchen, and then added it to his [...]
continue »I went to my son’s last parent teacher conference as a middle schooler this week. He’ll be a freshman in the fall. Wow. I don’t want to say my parents were right, but kids really do grow up fast. The teachers pulled a 12-hour+ day on Monday, so parents volunteered to bring in food so [...]
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Pizza is one of the few foods everyone likes in my house. Of course, none of us like the same toppings. B likes cheese only while E is OK with plain cheese or pepperoni. I prefer vegetarian or taco, while Scott likes meat combinations. I make homemade pizza pretty regularly, but decided to try something [...]
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I decided to count my cookbook collection the other day. I stopped counting at 200. I didn’t think that sounded like a huge number. The looks I’ve gotten from friends and colleagues suggest that they don’t agree. Apparently, in an informal poll of eight people, 10 is an acceptable number of cookbooks. Acceptable is boring. [...]
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I had a little accident in the kitchen this morning. Here’s a picture of my stove. The tea kettle and the Dutch oven are always on it because I use the kettle every morning the Dutch oven nearly every night. There’s no use putting them away. I decided to boil water for tea, so I [...]
continue »My daughter and I will run a 5K tomorrow. It’s a practice 5K to prepare her for the real thing on May 5. My daughter is enrolled in Girls on the Run of Eastern Iowa. This 10-week program for third- through sixth-grade students aims to give girls the tools they need to live happy, healthy [...]
continue »I wanted to take a picture of my grocery cart last weekend. I had apples. I had oranges. I had onions and red potatoes, green grapes and red. I bought bananas, lettuce, basil and blueberries. It was a beautiful, colorful cart and, I admit, I felt a bit self-righteous as I pushed past people who [...]
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