I HAVE TO ADMIT I’m a bit reticent to reveal my interest in making fresh holiday centerpieces. It is one of the hobbies I've enjoyed for many years. My third wife used to call me metro sexual. I think it was meant to be in a loving way, but maybe not? I have some gentleness in my makeup, and Google thinks I’m a woman based on my search history. If you believe algorithms are spot on and AI won’t perpetuate biases, think again. Apparently, they focus more on my garden and reci

THE ONLY PIZZA PLACE I RECALL from the 1960s in my hometown of Birmingham was “carry-out” from Casa Mia on Woodward just south of Lincoln Avenue. My older brother and I would cruise up to the Italian restaurant to retrieve our take-out pizza, and somehow we had the willpower to resist taking out a slice during our four-mile drive back home. Pizza wasn't very popular until entrepreneurs Ilitch (Little Caesars) and Monahan (Domino's) entered the scene with their unique value p

I HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE of attending a book signing sponsored by NWS (National Writers Series) for best-selling author John U. Bacon. He told of his four-year endeavor/adventure researching and writing “ The Gales of November — the untold story of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” It was an eye-opening evening; the insights shared through his talk and then book (photo above) focused mostly on the lives of the twenty-nine men who worked on the Edmund Fitzgerald. They were particularly r

I GROW PLANTS FOR MANY REASONS: "to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.” David Hobson I recorded this quote in June, and it came back to me this week as I was planting my first Amaryllis bulb for the coming blooming season… for the joy in seeing them grow. Yes, for the joy! I’m hooked. Enough words. It bloomed a week before Christmas

AS I HAVE REVEALED IN THE PAST , I get my recipes from about anywhere, and sometimes they arrive rather unexpectedly. I tried a new recipe this week and was thoroughly surprised and impressed with the flavor enhancement that this unusual ingredient added, and this time it isn’t cottage cheese! It is pumpkin puree. I’ll share it with you in the recipe below. I love my proven soups and chilis, but I’m always open to new tweaks, flavorings, and ingredients. This recipe falls int

THE ABOVE PHOTO SHOWS a giant Sequoia sapling planted in 2023 on the front lawn of the Benzonia Public Library. Kudos to the patrons who support David Milarch’s Archangel Ancient Tree Archive through their donations and interest. The organization’s lifelong mission is to collect genetic material, or germplasm, from notable tree specimens around the world. Sequoias and Redwoods are among the top candidates for cloning these ancient giants, which have existed for thousands of

THIS FOLLOWING STATEMENT RESONATES with me, especially considering my lifelong passion for food preparation and the numerous challenges there are in developing great recipes. “Do not fear mistakes, there are none.” Miles Davis, musician I have tried so many different recipes throughout my life. It all started when I was eleven. During my early days, I helped my mother a lot (from my point of view). She had me learn my way around the kitchen centered around her stovetop elect

FIVE DAYS OF SUNNY WEATHER are in the forecast for our area as we enter early October. The blue skies and blue water are absolutely...

MID-SEPTEMBER MARKS THE BEGINNING of my favorite time of the year. It is welcome and brings pleasure and reflections for me. The cooler...

IT WAS LATE NOVEMBER 1966 . Wet leaves were scattered on the ground, and it was already dark by 5:30. I was a senior in high school and had just picked up my new letter jacket from the Varsity Shop in downtown Birmingham. At my side was my new girlfriend, Sue Frank, a beautiful blonde 10th grader. We were tooling around the city’s older neighborhoods listening to WKNR, in my mom’s new Delta 88 equipped with a full bench seat. Our favorite Four Tops song began to play. Now, i

I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVED MY GOAL of losing 25 pounds over the past year and two months. I just had my annual physical at my...

TO MY DELIGHT, I'VE DISCOVERED the great flavor of chicken thighs this summer after a package of two skinless boneless breasts hit $10...

EIGHTEEN-HOLE GOLF COURSE LAYOUTS are not the only option in today’s ever-expanding golf course developments. The NGF (National Golf Foundation) notes the growing trend of shorter courses, such as 9- or 12-hole layouts, and even smaller formats are popping up all over the country. In our backyard, just off M-22, Arcadia Bluffs opened its newest creation this summer, delivering twelve holes under this newer concept. It is called The Dozen, consisting of two six-hole sides (No

I’M TAKING A BREAK from writing about garden flowers and have decided to write about a simple summer salad that has come into my focus...

MY BACK TO NATURE GARDEN has come to a critical juncture here at the end of July. My issue is that it shows lots of green growth and...

FOR A GOOD TEN YEARS in the 1990s, my hobby at my gentleman’s farm in Leelanau County was growing and learning about ornamental grass. I...

BUTTERFLY WEED HAS BECOME POPULAR in northern Michigan, especially in the last ten years, as we have come to learn about the critical...

MY FIRST EXPOSURE to Lupines took place decades ago in northern New Hampshire while visiting my youngest sister. The flowers had...

MY BIRTHDAY WAS MONDAY, the day after Father’s Day . I combined both days for my celebration. Why not! I picked up a couple of plants...

I RECENTLY SELECTED a large print (LP) novel from my library, Sam’s Letters to Jennifer, under the James Patterson brand. I first read the inside jacket and found the storyline appealing. It described compelling love stories in which secrets were shared between generations of women who had spent their summers on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. This had a familiar ring in my own life. I spent summers in Leelanau County, where I tried to charm a few ladies in my teenage and college