Consider the Begonia

If you love flowers you have to consider the angel wing begonia. It is one of the easiest plants to grow, provided you have them in a part shade, part sun location. I plant them in big flower pots, and display them on my porch….

My Beautiful America

My Beautiful America

  Well here we are in 2014, some 238 years after the famous Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776, declaring the United States of America to be a free country and independent of the Kingdom of Great Brittan. Since that day, every…

My Saturday Coffee

I don’t know about you, but I do love to sit at my table on a Saturday morning and sip coffee while looking at the newspaper. Sometimes, I even put different things in my coffee, like cocoa, vanilla, cream, cinnamon, and even honey. It is…

My Funny Dad/Ode to Father’s Day

Thinking about Father’s Day, and my dad, makes me want to laugh. As some of you may know, my dad, William Fiorino, was 100% Italian, the son of immigrants from Rome, Italy. He was really a character, to say the least, and growing up with…

Showers & Flowers

Having a Bridal Shower the other day was more fun than I could have imagined, not that I haven’t done this a time or two before. But somehow this one was definitely different. When the mother of the bride called and asked if she could…

Cinco de Mayo

It’s everyone’s favorite Mexican holiday, a chance to listen to Mexican music, hang up the piñatas, make your favorite guacamole, and celebrate with our Spanish Americans on their important holiday. So what are we celebrating? Most folks know enough Spanish to understand that “Cinco de…

My Easter Frittata

Well, folks, here we are just a few days before Easter Sunday, and everyone is preparing for the big Easter Brunch. Advertisements fill the papers for the best Easter Brunch in town. Many restaurants are believing that hungry folks leaving Easter morning church services will…

March Madness

“March Madness,” the term used to describe the excitement surrounding theIllinoisstate high school basketball tournaments, first appeared in print almost sixty years ago. It was coined by Henry V. Porter, who started his career as a teacher and coach atAthens High Schoolin centralIllinois. Today there…

To Wheat or Not to Wheat

Going through the check-out counter yesterday, I noticed the March 17 edition of the Woman’s World magazine boasting the “Wheat Belly Diet.” My curiosity got the best of me, and before I knew it, the magazine came home with me. After reading the article two…

The Green Salad

Today is St. Patrick’s day, a day that the Irish Americans boast their heritage. There are parades in every major city complete with kilts and bagpipes, the wearing of the green, and of course many Irish restaurants along the way. Today there will be many…