*6 cups chicken broth (can substitute w...

written by Kayla Fineza (age 18)...

I didn’t notice any difference between my family and my friends’ families until I was about 9 or 10. Having a working mom, or parents, with demanding schedules seemed to be the norm for a lot of kids my age; however, I didn’t have any friends who ...

Hershey Park... the home of great rides, a water park and of course chocolate world has some wonderful festivities around the holidays. We live just over an hour from Hershey, so we have taken full advantage of this over the years. When my kids were younger, we went for an overnight trip once at Chr...

Living in the northeast, winter typically means snow. Where we live it varies year to year, but we can usually count on at least one or two good storms. It would always be very exciting for my kids who loved to go out and sled and  make snow angels or snowmen and then come in and warm up with h...

The Hungarian wine industry can be traced back to the Roman Empire. Through the mid-1900s, Hungary saw a decline in the quality wine while the country was under communist rule. Quantity and profit for exports was favored over quality. It wasn't until the 1990s that the Hungarian wi...

One of my favorite desserts of all-time is crème brûlée. That first break through the flame-caramelized layer of sugar is so incredibly satisfying, as is that sweet vanilla bean taste. Years ago while gazing the spice section of a local market, a small packet of cooking lavender caught my ...

I will never get tired of this view during a Carbon Leaf concert at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.  If you saw yesterday's post, you have been introduced to my love for this band. I took a little trip down memory lane yesterday with photos from concerts over the year...

One of my good friends from residency used to give me recommendations for bands to listen to. He would send me a song or just the band name, and if I liked them, I would go buy a CD. Yep...this is before the time of just downloading the song, asking Alexa to play it, or listening on Spotify...we're ...

It's not typical for me to walk into a store and buy a Greek wine. I never knew much about them and now I know why....The quality of Greek wine has supposedly improved dramatically since the 1980s, and more of them have been appearing in the United St...

The above quote makes me laugh and it is definitely my feeling most Mondays. For me Monday is typically a busy day in the office seeing patients. Tuesday and Friday are my days in surgery, which are the days I enjoy the most. I think this is true for all surgeons. We train for many year...

In April  of 2014 my mom and I took the girls to Puerto Rico for the first time over spring break. We stayed at a resort my parents had discovered many years prior, and I had stayed there on my honeymoon as well.  It is a beautiful place, and we had a wonderful trip. The weather was p...

Before last week I had never tasted a Chenin Blanc. Mind blown. I've always been more of a red wine drinker, especially in the winter and fall, but I think as I study more wines from around the world, my palate has definitely grown. I have always appreciated Champagne, Prosecco, and Chardonnay (my f...

And so it begins...with Thanksgiving behind us, we are into the holiday shopping season. Black Friday has traditionally been crazy with huge crowds and long lines starting super early in the morning. Many people enjoy this and gather with friends and family to go out and get those deals, but with th...

First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Celebrations were likely smaller than usual for a lot of people, but based on all the posts I saw on social media, many embraced the idea of a more intimate dinner with immediate family and still managed to enjoy and feel thankful. 

So ...

I'll try to blame it on my Italian upbringing that I'm drawn to Chianti, but it's not really true, I just love the way it tastes. I envision the beautiful Tuscan Cypress trees, colorful poppies in the fields, and a distant villa, surrounded by grape vines......If only I could board the plane now.......

As I sit here on a chilly fall night, just outside of Philadelphia, PA, with a Stouffer's microwave mac-n-cheese (because sometimes after a long day, that's all us "working moms" can muster up) paired with one of the best chenin blanc wines from Stellenbosch, South Africa (because it doesn...