More people in our area are looking after parents, spouses, life partners, siblings, other relatives, or friends who need help as they age. This stage of life isn’t easy but can have a lot of benefits as we get closer to our folks and find ways to give something back for everything they’ve done for …

The conversation starts innocently enough. “What are doing for your Christmas card this year?” The season is upon us, and my friend makes her inquiry rather matter-of-factly at our lunch gathering. Ready. Set. No! I have abandoned Christmas cards—holiday cards, if you prefer—and I am not looking back. I am positive about and completely satisfied …

Anyone who has lived here more than six months knows that this part of the country sports a long winter, sometimes nearly unbearably long. It stands to reason that we gardeners would want plants that are interesting year round. Bark, structure, and evergreen foliage all play a role in winter appeal, but bright fruits and …

If you are in the Twelve Corners area of Brighton around lunch time, you have plenty of choices. There are more than ten places alone where you can order a sandwich—including one that has served customers for nearly a quarter of a century.  Brownstein’s Deli and Bakery is in a small building sandwiched between two …

I can remember it clearly. I was a child of maybe ten or twelve, staring up at a sign that said “Beers of the World.” Its carnival verbiage and bright colors called me, but it left me with one question: “Okay, there’s Genny and Old Milwaukee, and Molson from Canada. Um—what else?” Long before I …

Steakhouses come in all shapes and sizes, from the humble suburban sizzler to the swankiest Manhattan Delmonico. The success of a steakhouse rises and falls on one factor: the steak itself. When the Strathallan Hotel completed a $20 million renovation last year and joined the Doubletree by Hilton chain, its first floor restaurant, Char Steak …