Crab Cakes for a Luxurious Three-Day Weekend

By Lori Powell

Memorial Day...oh, the sheer bliss of having a three-day weekend! Definitely not overrated!

Prior to my new job, I was freelancing for about 2½ years and was not so great about saying NO in this economy to either a job that inspired me or one where I got to work with a great team of people. So holidays, never entered my mind unless I was invited somewhere or family called!

I know it sounds like I led kind of a dismal life or that I am a workaholic…well, possibly a bit of the latter. Funny thing is, when you are fortunate enough to find your passion and love your work, it simply doesn’t feel like work – at least a lot of the time.

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Cooking for the Midweek Blahs

By Lori Powell

Wednesday, midweek, is when my energy wanes a bit. Even though I begin my day with an hour of invigorating and restorative yoga, which helps me jump-start my day, it does begin to lose its effect by 4 p.m.!

If, on top of that, I have to work late, I am just about spent by dinner time but horribly hungry all the same. This is when I need a speedy but homemade delicious, quick-fix dinner.

I find cooking for oneself underrated…like yoga it can be restorative. The process of chopping and the smells of cooking something simple are super-satisfying and blissful. The pure action of it is grounding.

Just bring together some fabulous pantry and fridge staples and, voila! Happy days are here again, or at least another midweek day with a lovely, delicious ending.

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Salad Days

By Lori Powell

Simple days and salad days. The best days….

On the heels of company, it’s nice to make a simple, seasonal salad to set your body right. It helps to remedy the lack of sleep from having entertained your guests and having overindulged yourself, along with your company.

It’s sad that the guests are gone but it’s happy as well to have time just to yourself again…the balance of things in everyday life.

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Some Quick Meal Tips when Company’s Coming

By Lori Powell

Company has come and gone! It’s always such a treat to have guests in your home and every time I do, I learn how to do it at least one step better.

Having company truly is one of the best excuses to get your house in order since it gives you a deadline to get all your ducks in a row…well, at least those that can be seen by the naked eye and are not lurking behind closed doors in the closet.

Just this past Saturday I had eight people over with two of them wee ones with an appetite. The week before, my parents came for a visit so I had a lot of extra mouths to feed.

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What Goes Around Comes Around: BBQ Ribs in a Clay Pot

By Lori Powell

Having just announced spring last week, we are back with a cold front.  This calls for warm measures in cooking!

When I moved to Pennsylvania, one of the items that moved with me was a clay pot Romertopf -- the original, unglazed terra cotta pot for gourmet cooking, as the pamphlet reads). Funny what you discover in the recesses of your kitchen cabinet.

This pot was, I think, re-gifted to me by my Aunt Gladys when I got my first apartment in Virginia Highlands, Georgia. It was my first real attempt as a grownup back when I was 20.

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