CHICAGO In this deadly year of gun violence in Chicago, the tragic became the routine: Teens carried the caskets of friends down church steps. Sobbing mothers huddled at candlelight vigils, praying for an end to the shootings. Police unfurled more yellow tape to cordon off another murder scene. The city recorded its first fatal gunshot […]

Colorectal cancer has been part of my vocabulary from a young age. Due to a family history of the disease, all of my first-degree relatives get screened with a colonoscopy earlier than the recommended age of 50. I remember driving my mom home from her colonoscopy when I was a teenager. I watched with curiosity […]

I had a great gardening year in 2016. Of course, I’m a mad-dog gardener, so that means I was born optimistic and wired to remember success, not failure. So I suppose I had some of both. But the weather was largely sunny and I got a great yield from most of my vegetables, especially my […]

Even though risotto is a simple rice dish, I associate it with special occasions. A northern Italian rice dish cooked in broth to a creamy consistency, risotto is most often served as a first course. But in the U.S., we serve it as a side or a main course. It most always includes butter, onions […]