My friends must think I’m avoiding them. April has proven to be whirlwind of hi-strung energy. There are too many priorities that can’t be ignored or delayed. In the beginning of April, I canceled a few coffee dates. Around mid-April, meetings were rescheduled for May, after canceling for the third time. When dates are canceled, it throws another person’s schedule off.…

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Someone said, “There goes the neighborhood’s intelligentsia,” upon hearing about a bookstore closing in the neighborhood. It was a quaint shop of diverse — mostly African-American — literature, music, and small gifts. The book store owner gladly ordered any book upon request, and she welcomed suggestions about upcoming books and authors. When I first moved into the neighborhood, seeing a book shop prominently display…

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Summer squash is the antithesis to my love of eating beets. The moment the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share included two pounds of summer squash, my stomach started turning. A deep breath was inhaled. Memories of sauté summer squash slowly…

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“… I don’t want a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, Friday or Saturday

Oh nothing but Sunday oh yea

I want a Sunday Sunday

I want a Sunday kind of love

Oh yea

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday kind of loooove.”

- The Etta James version, A Sunday Kind of Love

Etta James…

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This is a delicious, quick meal that could be made within an hour on a weekday, including prepping time*. In place of chicken use any seafood to make shrimp, fish or crab chowder**. Unlike chicken, add the seafood to the pot after the potatoes are cooked to keep the meat tender. Using fresh corn will enhance the sweetness of the cream and the meat. During the off-season months,… Continue

Last winter, instead of serving a sick boyfriend bland chicken soup, he ate a sultry vitamin C filled Tortilla Soup.* Actually, this soup is a good choice to serve between seasons. The potatoes and the chicken give the soup the hearty weight of winter. The sweetness of the corn and the tomatoes has the reoccurring flavors of summer. When the weather abruptly switches from warm to cold to rainy, the spiciness of the soup reminds the soul that… Continue