You gotta love the holidays. Bob and I splurged on smoked turkey, cornbread dressing, hot rolls topped with cranberry relish (my favorite!) and more than our share of absolutely decadent desserts with no thought of calories for days. But enough already! If we continue eating like this, I'll have some real splainin' to do at my next Wii Fit workout ("No, Lucy you can't be in the show!").
Staying comfortable while winter does its worst can be a challenge. Besides delivering a big chill, my least favorite season can do a number on your skin leaving it dry, scaly and anything but touchable.
Then again, maybe it does.
When Charlotte and I were in Italy a couple of months ago we toured a lot of landmarks and saw these ugly mugs in just about every palace, government building and church we visited.
A determined detective tackles multiple murders involving a deadly neurotoxin, university politics and racial prejudice in bestselling author Colleen McCullough's new mystery, The Prodigal Son. In the fourth installment of Colleen's popular Carmine Delmonico series, the police captain returns to investigate homicides in a Connecticut college community. It's 1969 so he doesn't have the advantage of today's DNA testing or other high-tech tools; instead, he must depend on his wits to stop the killer.
When university biochemist Millie Hunter notices tetrodotoxin missing from her lab, she immediately reports the theft. It's big trouble; the deadly poison, extracted from a blowfish, shuts down the nervous system killing within minutes, and is virtually untraceable.
A sudden death at a dinner party and a murder at a gala seem to be linked only by the neurotoxin and the presence of Millie's husband Jim Hunter. Jim and Millie are accustomed to the scandals and prejudices that plagued interracial couples in the 60s, but Jim's groundbreaking book is about to be published. Why would he risk it all now? Is he being framed for murder--and if so, by whom?
As the bodies pile up, Carmine and his crew must follow the trail of clues to the killer, no matter how uncomfortable it gets. Luckily, Delia, his meticulous second-in-command, and Desdemona, his perceptive wife, are committed to helping him stop the madness in this superb, Raymond Chandler-style whodunit.
Colleen McCullough draws on her scientific expertise as a former neurophysiologist to weave a chillingly real story of small-town intrigue. A gift to fans of crime fiction, The Prodigal Son is a highly addictive, 305-page puzzle that plays with your suspicions to the very end.
That's somewhat surprising, considering Colleen, who cut her teeth on family sagas like The Thorn Birds, didn't start writing mysteries until later in life. What prompts a writer famous for historical fiction to begin penning classic detective stories? We asked the internationally acclaimed author to give us the scoop.
We're giving away 4 copies of bestselling author Colleen McCullough's (The Thorn Birds, Morgan's Run, Anthony and Cleopatra) enthralling new mystery, The Prodigal Son.
In the fourth installment of Colleen's popular Carmine Delmonico series, the 1960s police captain returns to investigate homicides in a Connecticut college community. With professors dropping like flies, the determined detective must find the killer fast without the aid of a CSI department. Luckily, he has a meticulous colleague, Delia, and his perceptive wife Desdemona to help him stop the madness in this superb, Raymond Chandler-style whodunit.
Click "Read More" for details on how to enter. Contest ends Jan. 10!
By Lauren Lilling of Keep It Sweet Desserts
One of my favorite things about baking is taking a traditional sweet treat and giving it a modern twist. Who can resist a salty-and-sweet goodie? My father-in-law happens to be a founding member of the salty/sweet fan club. He recently celebrated a birthday and when I asked him what he wanted for his special birthday dessert, his only request was chocolate-covered pretzels. As much as I love a pretzel dipped in melted chocolate (my favorite thing to do with leftover chocolate!), I wanted to take things up a notch for my father-in-law's big day.
Now you know why I can't get the song "Muskrat Love" out of my head.
When the temperature dips, nothing satisfies like a steaming bowl of soup. Chili, Tortilla Soup and this tasty, slow-cooker Taco Soup are favorites around our house.
The holiday season forces us to do a lot of things we don't do the other 11 months of the year. You know, important stuff, like putting on pants remembering which fork to use with the cheese dip. Just the niceties that keep our civilization one step ahead of our mouth-breathing, cave-dwelling ancestors.
No offense to our mouth-breathing cave-dwelling demographic, but you get my drift.
Boomer Nation, let's just belly up to the ol' Yule Log and fess up. Some of this holiday stuff is damn hard. Especially when we have to be polite to people we only see...I dunno...maybe ONE TIME A YEAR.
It can be tough to keep that polite, how-are-the-wife-and-kids-how-'bout-this-crazy-weather, kinda chatter going during the course of a morning, afternoon or evening. It's even harder as we get older and either (1) FORGET which conversation topics are off-limits, or (2) Our good friend Mr. Cuervo has flipped off our conversation filter and made it impossible for us to give a shi*.
Bob, this is bad advice. The holidays are all ABOUT the KIDS.
With any luck, our Boomer nest won't be quite so empty soon. Our son Cole is supposed to come home for the holidays. (Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hal-le-lu-jah!).
Finding cool stocking stuffers for the girls on your list is a breeze when you think beauty.
Perfect when you're looking for a sassy little something, these 15 fabulous fix-me-ups will delight divas of every age. Even better, they up the glam factor at such budget-stretching prices there's no need to stop at just one.
This is the time of year when every homeowner gets to unleash his inner Griswold. Some of our neighbors wait all year to string light strand after light strand from every conceivable gutter and gable. The rest either hire someone to do it, or skip the whole exterior lighting escapade.
I fall into that category. Literally.
Boomers, allow me to explain. Ladders and I still aren't on speaking terms. Sure, I own one, but it's not like we get along. We really don't. Not since
That was the day I extended my 12' aluminum ladder as far as it would go and PROPPED IT UP ON A BENCH to reach even HIGHER. No, I wasn't getting an early jump (fall) on putting up my Christmas lights. I was doing a little home improvement project that would "only take a minute." That minute took me five years, THREE surgeries, 12 titanium screws, three titanium plates, four titanium rods and two bone grafts to overcome.
Charlotte displayed her mastery for understatement.
She should have answered, "you look like you've been run over by the 9:15 to Mobile."