Indiana University Press is running a Goodreads giveaway for my new book Lincoln Road Trip (due out this spring) from now until December 19th. If anyone is interested, here is the link:https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/286632-lincoln-road-trip America’s favorite president sure got around. From his time as a child in Kentucky, as a lawyer in Illinois, and all the way…
I never read Anne of Green Gables, the 1908 novel by L. M. Montgomery about an orphan named Anne Shirley who is sent to live on a farm owned by a middle-aged brother and sister on Prince Edward Island (PEI). I’m not sure why since it’s considered a children’s classic, having been translated into 20…
My first morning in Queretaro, about a 90 minute drive north of Mexico City, I walked along the cobblestone streets in the city’s historic center to the fairy tale castle-like La Casa de la Marquesa, once a private home built in the 1756, now a restaurant and hotel. The menu reflects the vast citrus groves,…
Only six or so when she started helping out in the kitchen, Tiffani Thiessen grew up in a family where dinners were a gathering time to enjoy great cooking and conversations. She upped her game from traditional American fare when she and other stars from “Saved by the Bell” toured in Europe. “It definitely…
Once a two-room lumberman’s cottage back in the 1860s, today what was first converted into a farm house and now is a weekend home for the Ferrantella family features lush gardens with cascades of brightly colored blooming plants such as lilies and hydrangeas. But beyond that, in the backyard and then further away along a…
My search for started back in 2012 when Frank Buesing of Stevensville, after returning from a trip to Bavaria, wrote asking if I knew where he could find pork knuckles (schweinshaxe in German) in Southwest Michigan. On his trip, his guide had recommended he try some and, liking the dish so much, he’d…
Hot Chicken Takeover hadn’t opened yet and already the line on the second floor in North Market, Columbus Ohio’s super food emporium was about a half hour long. “It’s always like this,” said my friend Kari Van Treuren who was showing me around the city. As an aside, I’d never thought much about Columbus and…
High in the Sierra Madres, we follow the twisting road from Puerto Vallarta and the seaside on our way to San Sebastian de Oeste. Crossing the long spanned bridge over Rio Ameca, the road curves around a ridge and into the tiny village of La Estancia and Hacienda San Sebastián, a family owned raicilla and…
There’s a definite vibe in Ann Arbor — one where social consciousness and creativity converge. And so I mapped out interesting places in the eclectic Westside to immerse myself in all this trendy city has to offer. A first stop is the Selma Cafe, located in the home of Jeff McCabe and his wife, Lisa…
The author, an avid collector of vintage recipe booklets, shares some of her finds–updating them with modern twists.
