“Believe Science! Trust the science!” more

In the past, there were three styles of wine: red wine, white wine and rosé. more

At least once a day, I run across a room yelling, “No, no, no!” Then I lunge for the remote control, the way a soldier dives for a grenade before it explodes. more

Let us take a look at a can of peas. When you pick up a can of peas at the supermarket, do you look at the label to see where the peas were grown or the farm where they came from? Are the peas foreign or domestic? What section of the country and what year were they grown? Or even the name of the variety of peas that are in that tiny little can? Of course, you don't. more

The desire for change often seems to accompany a new year. It comes with the desire to be better and to do better, and gardeners often want it to be the year of the best garden ever. If you are thinking of starting a new garden, a new planting area, or just revamping a current garden, then consider picking a gardening theme. more

One of the side effects of having an English degree is that I remember famous works of literature – but only the weird ones. The one I’m remembering lately is extra creepy. It’s a short story told by a narrator who insists he’s just nervous, not crazy. He’s anxious because he killed an old man for a bizarre reason: He couldn’t stand the sight of the old man’s “vulture eye,” – which is a pale blue eye with a cloudy film. more

I have often been questioned on “what makes a wine vegan?” Since wine is made from fruit, mostly grapes, then are they not vegan by definition? The answer is a resounding yes, although that yes is often followed by the most fighting word in the English language: but. more

Editor's note: This column was initially published Saturday, Jan. 6 in the Sedalia Democrat, prior to Monday and Tuesday's snowstorm. more

My mother is radioactive. You wouldn’t know it by looking at her. She’s dozing in a recliner, and the only hint that something is wrong is the sign on the door, which reads “Caution: Radioactive materials.” more

There are times when only the finest will do, and I was recently able to sample some wines from the Paso Robles district that well fit that description. more

There’s no month quite like January. It wants us awake at the stroke of midnight for parties, fireworks, a kiss, and a toast to the New Year. But then it steamrolls in at daybreak with demands that we drop and give it 50 push-ups before the first cup of coffee. more

One cannot deny facts, and the fact is that wine sales have been increasing at a steady rate every year, indicating that wine has become a very popular dinner-time beverage, replacing the sugary beverages of the past that have been proven to be detrimental to your health. more

At this time last year, the column I wrote to mark the end of one year and the start of another lamented that the 2020s weren’t turning out how anyone had hoped or predicted. Well, here we are again at the end of yet another year that feels like the poster child for a dumpster fire that we’ve all learned to just deal with in the background of our everyday lives. more

Many of us, whether Christian or not, have just celebrated Christmas. How many Christians this Christmas season have or are thinking about what it means that the great I AM became incarnate? Outside of beautiful Christmas songs, trees, decorations, food, gifts, and celebration, have we made space to wonder at the Word being made flesh and “tenting” among us in the person of Jesus? more

The New Year's holiday seems to have been made to be celebrated with sparkling wines. The problem, however, is “which sparkling wines.” As with anything, it is the choices that make the difference and the wrong sparkling wine could wreck what should be a festive evening. more

When I was a free-range kid in the early ‘80s, I had a Pink Panther bicycle – also known as the coolest bike a girl could have in that day and age. I rode it everywhere. more

At the end of every local news article we publish in the Democrat and Star-Journal, we include contact information for the writer. That makes it common for readers to call our offices with a specific question about an article they read, not realizing we’re the writers and aren’t affiliated with the organizations we interview. more

What some people call "the most wonderful time of the year" can also be the most exhausting. With all the extra events, shopping, cleaning, cooking, traveling, hosting and more, it can make us want to crawl into the nearest stocking and take a long winter's nap. more

While I am constantly on the lookout for affordable wines to tell you about, I have ignored the wines with a more costly price tag. When a wine displays a formidable price, the question invariably arises, “Is it worth it?” That is where wine columnists come in to tell the reader all about the wine and then give an unbiased opinion of it. more

It started with a limp. What we’d hoped was just a muscle sprain in the dog’s hind leg lingered for two months, landing us in the office of a veterinary orthopedic surgeon for x-rays. more