Cooking

  • Joan Fontaine

    Rose Madeline Mula: If You Can’t Stand the Heat

    Rose Madeline Mula Writes: “It was with considerable trepidation, therefore, that I entered the kitchen of my hostess, the legendary actress, Joan Fontaine, one long-ago Thanksgiving morning, to offer my assistance. Acting was not Miss Fontaine’s only talent. Not by a long shot. She was also a hole-in-one golfer, a prize-winning fisherwoman, a hot air…

  • An Undocumented Childhood by Rose Madeline Mula

    An Undocumented Childhood by Rose Madeline Mula

    Rose Mula Writes: Some people never leave home without their American Express card; I never leave home without a camera. Digitized pictures of the twenty-five countries and forty-plus states of America that I’ve visited since my first tour of exotic New Hampshire constantly flash on my computer monitors and digital frames throughout my home, helping…

  • Julia Sneden Wrote: Love Your Library

    Julia Sneden Wrote: Love Your Library

    Julia Sneden Wrote: My mind’s eye can still see the face of the Children’s Librarian, although I have long since forgotten her name. We will be wise to continue to back up our knowledge of history and literature and art and science with hard copy. She kept up with my reading level, suggesting writers and…

  • high heels

    Julia Sneden Wrote: If The Shoe Fits … You Can Bet It’s Not Fashionable

    Julia Sneden Wrote: My mother was a mini Imelda Marcos. She kept upwards of 40 pairs of shoes well into her 80’s, and was crushed when she had to give up high heels following a heart attack at the age of 89. Her sole criterion in buying shoes was style, not comfort, and she was…

  • Vintage jewelry, Wikimedia Commons

    Joan L.Cannon Wrote: A Family Inheritance: More Than ‘Things’ … Emblems of Our Lives

    Joan Cannon wrote: As one advances in years, one accumulates possessions the way a caddis fly larva accumulates grit. The glue that makes us carry it all along with us is in a way self-secreted as well. However, it’s psychic rather than physical — emotional rather than material. Perhaps the most obvious example is a…

  • ways to grasp a pencil

    Julia Sneden Wrote: Old Dogs, New Tricks

    Julia Sneden wrote: At the age of 37, I started a new career as a kindergarten teacher. My first day on the job, the lead teacher, who was in her 70’s and scared me every bit as much as she scared the children, watched me writing a note. “You’ll have to change the way you…

  • Captain Charles E. Yeager

    Joan Cannon Writes: Finding the Right Excuse; Committing Words to Paper Because …

    Joan Cannon Writes: Think of the poets and novelists and playwrights whose words sink into the consciousness of thousands and even millions and remain there, as emblems, guides, beacons of hope or warnings of disasters, and the excuse (as if one is needed) presents itself. Maybe there’s information or a revelation for some unknown viewer…

  • stack of books

    Joan Cannon Asked: What is a Book Club? An Old-Fashioned Book Report? A Program Given By an Author? What Is the Accepted Practice?

    Joan L. Cannnon wrote: A year or so ago, I was invited to attend a tea given by the combined membership of all the book clubs in the town where I now live. A presentation was scheduled for the proprietor of the much-loved local independent book store cum gift shop. She is a legend in…

  • The Series, This Emotional Life

    We meet individuals facing major turning points in their lives — a job loss, a cancer diagnosis, the death of a child, an accident — as well as those facing more common struggles. We learn from the latest research that we often incorrectly predict what will bring us greater happiness, leading us to look for…

  • What GAO Found; Formaldehyde in Textiles

    The health risk of greatest concern associated with formaldehyde in clothing — allergic contact dermatitis — stems from dermal exposure. A form of eczema, allergic contact dermatitis affects the immune system and produces reactions characterized by rashes, blisters, and flaky, dry skin that can itch or burn.

  • Man Shops Globe, Bazaars, Flea Markets on Sundance

    In out-of-the-way antique shops, private dealerships and craft stalls, Keith Johnson, an at-large buyer for the Anthropologie chain of popular clothing and home decorating stores, looks for one-of-a-kind home furnishings and accessories. He travels six months of the year, to ends-of-the-earth excursions, from flea markets in Paris to remote villages in India and obscure art…

  • Environment Working Group’s Back-To-School Guide

    EWG’s Green Back-to-School Guide for K-12: Some school supplies contain materials that are toxic for kids and harmful to the environment. Learn which to avoid and how to pick safer alternatives.

  • Preliminary Polling Results: Hillary Clinton made believers out of more young women than did Sarah Palin

    there is evidence to show that more young women were encouraged by the presidential race of Hillary Clinton than by the vice-presidential bid of Sarah Palin. The poll asks women to reflect about whether or not the campaigns of these national female politicians made them believe that there would be a woman president in her…

  • Art By the Yard at the Textile Museum; Find Stylish Items at the Museum Shop

    As Britain’s design industry was regaining momentum, Lucienne Day, Jacqueline Groag and Marian Mahler dared to offer a fresh approach to textile design in an era dominated by male professional artists. Believing that “good design” should be available for everyone, their products shaped the national aesthetic and continue to offer artistic inspiration and delight today.Explore…

  • In Case You’re Thinking of Applying: Flight Attendants, Training and Salary

    In addition, trainees are taught how to deal with disruptive passengers and with hijacking and terrorist situations. New hires learn flight regulations and duties, gain knowledge of company operations and policies, and receive instruction on personal grooming and weight control.

  • CultureWatch, August 2010

    Its author, Daisy Hay, has a recent doctorate in English Literature from Cambridge, and currently teaches at Oxford. This is her first book, and one may only hope that others will follow. Her scholarship is impeccable (copious notes, a fine bibliography, and a very thorough index), but it’s her careful interpretation of the dynamics of…

  • When Jobs Go Away for Good

    Recently, the trade adjustment program has factored into the Obama administration’s response to the nation’s stubbornly high unemployment rate. The federal economic stimulus law has temporarily expanded eligibility for the job re-training assistance beyond the field of manufacturing, and also improved the financial benefits associated with a program that was already considered the Cadillac of…

  • The Deadliest of All Gynecological Cancers and Its Symptoms

    All women are at risk for ovarian cancer, and 90 percent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer do not have a family history that puts them at higher risk; the Pap test is sensitive and specific to the early detection of cervical cancer, but not to ovarian cancer.