Dessert has always been a favorite in my family. My great grandfather was known to sit down and eat most of a pie by himself.  My favorite cookie has always been sugar, because my grandmother made the best. She would sit a plate of fresh baked cookies on the table ...

The Triangle Shirtwaist Company in Manhattan produced women’s shirtwaists. The fitted, long-sleeved blouses with high necklines worn by women with their long skirts every day in the early 1900’s.  Most of the company’s workers were teenage girls and young women who had immigrated to America with their families, dreaming of ...

Canning before the long winter was once a part of life for most homemakers in America. My grandmother was one of those homemakers, living with my grandfather and her two little boys on a farm in northwest Indiana.  There, she had a large garden in the side yard, along with ...

We’ve all been victim of someone’s fun at our expense when the calendar turns to April 1st.  Everyone’s a prankster, trying to get the better of someone else, all in good fun. The origins of April Fool’s Day go back several centuries. In 18th century Scotland, April Fool’s Day centered ...

The song If, written by David Gates of the band Bread in 1971, was a number four U.S. Billboard hit of its day. Many remember the beautiful rock ballad playing on transistor radios, through open car windows, and in school gymnasiums hosting  dances. The story goes that Gates wrote the ...