Wandering around the Cancun airport, struggling to find a way to spend my last pesos on some worthy souvenir that would stretch the memories of my time with family in Isla Mujeures, I kept coming face to face with bottles of Mexican vanilla next to the sombreros and colorful rain sticks. While I did...
Growing up, I was one of those kids who loved olives, and like this little fella here, there was no better way to eat them then sucking them off the tip of each finger. Mind you, we’re talking those bland, black olives, the predominate requirement was their ability to attach to the tips of...
A scene from one of the Planet of the Apes movies with Charleston Heston, came to mind the first time I saw the Sutro Baths. I was looking at a relic of the center of some thriving recreational activity for folks in San Francisco. Never heard of either place? If you are not from...
You know in the movies where the character comes upon a scene that is almost overwhelming for them, everything goes silent, action appears to come to a screeching halt as if its too much for all their senses to operate at the same time as they absorb their surroundings, and then slowly like dominos...
As a child, I had an overwhelming curiosity about the (H)mong*. For the life of me, I could not figure out why of all the places in the world, they picked Minnesota. Frankly, I was a bit dumbfounded by this choice. Nothing against Minnesota. I still am a Minnesota girl at heart, but growing...
The Claddagh ring is a universal symbol of love, but how much did you know about it? If you are like me, you recognize its universal design, and stop there. Ah, but there’s an entire backstory that is fascinating. I am lucky to have a mother who teaches me something new when I least...
This question has been on my mind: ”Why is the pineapple so appealing that people want to use its image all over the home?” Don’t get me wrong, I love pineapple, with a passion, but I also love bacon, and I have no desire to dress my home with porcine images. So I decided...
The history of soy sauce is a bit like the sauce itself, kind of murky. What is consistent is that the precursor to soy sauce is something called jiang. Jiang was a method of preservation popular with the prehistoric people of Asia involving preserving meat and fish with salt. This process produced a bi-product,...
The custom of eating pork on New Year’s is based on the notion that pigs symbolize progress or prosperity for many cultures – not a connection that may immediately come to mind. The animal pushes forward, rooting in the ground before moving, symbolizing progress. In Italy, the fatty meat also symbolizes the fattening of...
Kinsale was one of my favorite destinations while in Ireland. How could it not be? It’s very picturesque and known as the Gourmet Capital of Ireland. I will not comment on that claim, as I have not the depth of knowledge of Ireland’s food scene, but my limited exposure tells me, if its not...
