ask-lea

Prayer at Dinner?

by

Dear Lea, We pray over each meal, as a family. When guests are over, what is the right thing to do? Still pray? Ask guest to lead the prayer? Don’t pray at all? If it’s your tradition to say grace before a meal, then you should absolutely do it when you have guests. I wouldn’t ask them to lead the prayer without a little warning first, so they have a moment to think about what they’d like to say (or […]

Continue Reading
flowers

Natural Christmas Beauty

by

I have strong feelings about Christmas decorations. First, they should always bring joy. For me, that means things that are natural, simple in construction, and handmade, if possible. There’s nothing more soul-sucking than walking into a big department store during the Christmas season and being accosted by overblown plastic decorations covered in fake snow. Secondly, decorations should not be expensive or too time-consuming. If you don’t look forward to putting up your tree and decorating the house, then maybe you’re […]

Continue Reading
formalities

Be Somebody’s Christmas Angel

by

I’ve written before about So Others Might Eat (SOME), a community-based organization that exists to help the poor and homeless in Washington DC. SOME is very much in need of unwrapped NEW toys for children of all ages living in their facilities, for their parents to give them on Christmas morning. What a happy opportunity to do something wonderful for a child! SOME would appreciate your toy donations by December 20, in order to have the time to sort and […]

Continue Reading
food

Spatchcock Chicken with Grapes and Pine Nuts

by

We eat a lot of chicken, and as much as we like it, it can become a little predictable. Spatchcocking, said to derive from the term “dispatch the cock,” is an 18th century English or Irish word, and refers to a method of cooking a chicken by removing the backbone and flattening it. The chicken cooks more quickly, and all of the skin is nicely crisped, so it is more tender. It also makes it easy to cook a whole […]

Continue Reading
1 … 120 121 122 … 164