Drew Marshall on the Georges, Weird Al and belching. (Hmmmm)

On Saturday I spent about 15 minutes with Canadian radio host Drew Marshall, who talked about many things ... but mostly about my cookbook "Sunday Dinners."

If you'd like to listen to the interview, click here and scroll down to the text that's about my interview. There will be a download icon and it will tell you what to do. (right click, save as ...)

Drew's a funny guy and lead in with music from Weird Al Yankovic (sorry, I cannot explain the connection because there really isn't one) and then started talking about his mom's food and all of the wonderful dishes she made. The next day was, of course, Mother's Day, so this was focusing on moms, great family dinners and the famous pastors in my book.

He's now hungry for the Jakes family baking powder biscuits, George Foreman's berry nut salad and wants to know what it would like to be in a belching contest with any of them. Possible? Maybe. But not really probable.

Live like an otter ... well, sort of

One day last week when I was getting ready for work I looked out the window and saw otters playing on the pier. I live on a small lake in the Houston suburbs and we have plenty of wildlife: geese and ducks, herons and egrets, fish, turtles and the occasional stray cat. But otters? Never.

So it was really exciting to see four of them belly-flopping, diving and spiraling into the late from the pier and dock. I stood there in my thick furry bathrobe and grinned from ear to ear while watching them.

Here you can see three of the four otters.

When they left I was so disappointed. They brought a little fun to my life and then -- poof! -- it was gone. I suppose I could live vicariously through the otters in the photo, but it might be smarter to just inject a little bit of otter-dom to my life.

So it's a new year and it's time to have a little more fun. Do a belly flop (of some sort) when you feel like being silly. Dive in head first to take on your fears. Try a spiral dive now and then. 

For me, it means I'll try new things, stress less about work and devote more time to taking care of mind body and soul. 

Not sure what will happen next, but I'm thinking that living more like an otter is going to feel great.

Change of seasons

This was my birthday weekend and it might have been my best ever. I had recently decided that I need to make more of an effort to live in the moment. I find that I'm so rushed all of the time, always thinking about all the work ahead of me or everything that isn't getting done that I just don't savor what I have.

Lakewood Pastor Joel Osteen recently told me in an interview -- about his book "Break Out!" -- that you need to wake up each day reminding yourself of all the good things in your life. So that's what I'm doing. Today I am thankful for my husband Steve; we had a nice dinner out Friday night on my birthday. I am also thankful for my friends who had a nice birthday party for me Saturday night.

Then a cold front came through so the temperature dropped quite a bit and it was as close to what, in Indiana, we call Indian summer. This is what my birthdays used to feel like: a special day in my favorite season of the year, fall. So I am thankful for this nice little break in the weather.


On top of that I was interviewed on a radio show (thank you, Cleverly Stone) and later had a book signing at Barnes and Noble (thank you, Brian) to promote my book, "Sunday Dinners." Now it's Sunday night but I'm going to savor what I have left of this beautiful weekend.

From my garden to ... a jar

I suppose it just doesn't sound right to say that I picked fresh jalapeño and bell peppers to turn them into a pepper jelly I can enjoy later. Fresh garden produce is meant to be enjoyed right now, full of nutrition and free of chemicals ... right?

Well, I had some peppers ready to be picked and I've been wanting to try my hand at pepper jelly. When I lived in Indiana I never would have thought of making pepper jelly. For one thing, I wouldn't have known what to do with it! But since moving to Texas 13 years ago I've developed an appreciation for much spicier food and last year I discovered this spicy-sweet treat. I'm sure there are endless possibilities for it, but so far my favorite ways to enjoy it are on cream cheese and a cracker or on baked chicken. I need to find more ways to use it because I'm getting tired of cheese and crackers.

What sounds good?

This pepper jelly was made with jalapeño and bell peppers, cider vinegar, pectin and, of course, sugar.