“It’s hard to imagine a civilization without onions.” —Julia Child Julia, I am with you on that one! Thanks for summing up civilization for us with the most versatile member of the root vegetable family. There’s nothing like a good onion to spice up a dish or a salad. Onions, you either love them or more…

“[My guru] says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you are fortunate enough. But that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and more…

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” –Harriet Van Horne, newspaper columnist, radio and TV critic I love this quote. It sums up exactly how I feel about cooking and love. Don’t do it half-assed. Jump in with both feet and get into it! I want to more…

I’m obsessed with white French dressing, the tangy, saucy little sister of the reddish-orange version we all grew up with. If you haven’t had white French dressing, you have got to try it on a salad! It is really popular at restaurants in northeast Ohio, but for some reason I can’t find it anywhere at more…

I can’t tell you how many women have told me over the years that they are in a horrible book club or would like to be in a book club but are afraid because they’ve heard the horror stories of being involved in one. I won’t lie; there are a lot of associated risks involved: more…

Why do I crave sushi? It seems like every time I have good sushi, I just want it more and more. My curiosity about these delectable little morsels of raw seafood got the best of me this past weekend, so I went online to see if there was something to these cravings—you know, kind of more…

It’s very late! Great Oscar show, greaty party, great friends & family – whew I’m exhausted! I need to get to bed – but just wanted to share the details of the menu and a few pics.  You can see all of the pics on Facebook and I’ll be uploading the rest after I get more…

Since I last wrote about my Oscar food theme dilemma this year, I’ve been busy catching the nominated flicks at the Cineplex and on DVD, and as of today, here’s my official viewing scorecard: Seen – 7:  Avatar, Up in the Air, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man, The Blind Side, The Hurt Locker, District 9 more…

Hey, it’s not always just about getting a buzz; sometimes you can turn imbibing into an educational and cultural experience. I had the pleasure of doing just that when I attended a champagne and chocolate tasting last week at the Akron Art Museum.  It also served as a great venue to host my MariaMedia launch more…

A few weeks ago, I read that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was going to nominate 10 movies in the Best Picture category this year. I really didn’t think that much about it at the time and thought it was kind of cool that more movies would have a chance to gain more…