Everyone I know espouses the virtue of a homemade Christmas, and I have to admit that when someone takes the time to make me something I am genuinely touched by the act and the sentiment that goes along with it.

That said, have you ever decided to take on...

Christmas is only three days away, and I'm beginning to think I did it wrong. I am not panicked, abject, or guilty; I am simply enjoying a relatively light workweek with the promise of family and a great dinner on Friday. Outside of my mellow sphere, however, there are signs...

The American media warns us at every turn that Christmas is a time of over-indulgence. Women's magazines sprout articles about how to avoid the buffet table, not to mention an extra ten pounds. Readers flip quickly past that article to the one depicting how to decorate a sugar cookie.

Honestly,...

This is not about making a Christmas list, although I should do that, I guess. It is about my need to check and monitor things constantly, as if I were the Chief of the Baguette Patrol for a supercollider. Not all things. I do not monitor the dust balls in...

In November of 1980, I was the director of Juvenile Advocates, a legal advocacy program for incarcerated teens located in Morgantown, West Virginia. My job consisted of monitoring the treatment of juveniles who were locked up in county jails, detention centers and what were known then, as reform schools.Perhaps the...

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. (Although come Christmastime, you know I'll be making the very same declaration, and ditto Easter). This year we are having about 22 people over for lunch. In LA, people ask "What are you doing for the holidays?" and I say sunnily, "Oh, I'm having 22...

Make Ahead Turkey Gravy

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need a whole turkey to make gravy. However, you must slow-roast turkey to get good gravy.

I have to admit I have witnessed some pretty seasoned cooks have complete breakdowns at Thanksgiving when it comes time to gravy making. There...

Jack Benny (who was a famously cheap and made fun of himself for it) gave out silver dollars on Halloween.
True

Lucille Ball used to answer the door herself.

Also true

A witch lived in the witches' house on Walden Avenue and gave out apples on Halloween.

If you have an iPhone (sorry if you don't) and want to take your daily technology coolness quotient to the next level, then you need to pay attention. You won't find silly games or time wasters on this list. These are helpful, and mostly free apps (unless otherwise noted), that...

I fell in love on February 1, 2009. Two days later we got into our first and only fight. About root vegetables, specifically yams.

Before I continue I should say that I consider myself well versed on the subject. For six months in high school, I refused to eat anything...

By Amy Ephron

1) You can't find your keys
Don't worry about it, no one can ever find their keys

2) You can't find your cell phone.
Don't worry about it, no one can ever find their cell phone

3) Your daughter calls and tells you they've just...

By Laraine Newman

My husband Chad went to New York recently to drop our oldest daughter Lena off at college. That same week, our 14-year old attended a cheer camp at UCLA for four days giving me a rare glimpse into the gaping maw of my Empty Nest Future and...

Whether you're cooling off by the pool, by the beach, or on the patio....! Our summer drinks to help you on your way.

Beach Martini

Bermuda Rum Swizzle

The Bootleg

Cuba Libre

Key Lime Martini

This weekend in the United States we celebrate Labor Day. A holiday that originated in the 1880's to give the working citizens of America a day of rest.

I think for Americans it is a more significant celebration of the end of summer.

It's not Labor Day (or...

6 ears corn
4 lbs. lobster meat, cooked, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tomato, large, peeled and seeded
2 avocado, peeled, cubed
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons milk (or light cream)
1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
salt and pepper

Cook the corn...

I'm from the South. I grew up and went to college in Tennessee, and worked for many years in Atlanta. But I never felt like I was home until I moved to New York City. The city fit my disposition and overall world-view nicely, not to mention the comfort that...

For years, as both my husband Chad's and my weight have yo yo'd, I've begged him to diet along with me but we've never been able to be in sync with our willingness to trudge the road of deprivation. Until now. We email each other from different rooms in the...

I first heard of flavortripping last summer. I read an article in the New York Times about a substance that altered tastes of reality. People were going to underground parties for the experience. At these parties they would consume Synsepalum dulcificum, the Miracle Fruit. Once eaten, the fruit tells your...

Long before I was a cooker, I was a reader and a writer. I was one of those kids who had to be told not to read at the dinner table, and I was writing "novels" on my red Olivetti Valentine typewriter in fourth grade. The reading and eating experiences...

Ischia, the biggest of the three islands in the Gulf of Naples, isn't big. You can circle its rocky, 34-kilometer perimeter by boat in less than an hour.

And while you're doing that, may I suggest you pause, as everyone does, to leap into the Tyrrhenian Sea, where you'll...