I love to watch cooking shows. No cuisine is off limits for me and there is no age restriction for the contestants. I really like watching kids cook and bake. I am amazed at the skills I have seen these young chefs and bakers display. They are far more talented than I am in the kitchen. At ...

If you enjoy trivia, picking up obscure historical references is part of the fun of antiques. Most people probably haven’t heard of Gueridon, a character from 17th-century French farces. But if you’re a fan of antique furniture, you may be familiar with gueridon tables. Maybe you have one. ...

As this is the weekend before Thanksgiving, it behooves me to ponder upon and yes write about that superb principle that boosts your mental health – gratitude. In past years when touching on the subject, I’ve written about gratitude in times of trial and appreciating the bitter with the ...

Cranberries are a familiar sight at the Thanksgiving table. Cranberry glass? Maybe not so much. Pinkish-red glass with a yellowish tone was part of the Victorian era vogue for colored glass. Cranberry glass was made into decorative art glass pieces, like this centerpiece with multiple flared ...

According to the National Book Award website “The National Book Awards were established in 1950 to celebrate the best American writing in fiction, nonfiction and poetry.” Since 1989, the Awards have been overseen by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to ...

Majolica, the famous tin-glazed earthenware pottery, gets its name from Majorca (Mallorca), the Mediterranean island off the east coast of Spain. Tin-glazed pottery was brought to Spain by the Moors and spread to Italy as early as the 14th century, then to the rest of Europe. By the 1800s, ...