Every wine lover has a shelf in their home dedicated to books that help them appreciate their favorite beverage just a little more. Here are a few of those on my shelves, along with some personal observations — and they are very personal, so acquire those that appeal to you, and enjoy that ...

For this column I’m going to share some excerpts from my mother Elizabeth Coblentz’s columns from November 1994. At the time, Joe and I lived in a house trailer across the driveway from Dad and Mom, and we had only daughter Elizabeth: “It is Monday and such a nasty wash day. The wash is ...

Every time I am feeling a little too much, or sometimes not enough, I bake a pie. I bake a pie when I celebrate something, make a new friend, figure out something hard, go on an inspiring trip, and, most of all, when I am trying to create a feeling of home. For my project-turned-cookbook, ...

DEAR ANNIE: My younger sister, “Clara,” moved to my town last spring after a painful breakup. She was fragile, devastated and desperate for a fresh start. I opened my home and my heart without hesitation. I drove her to job interviews, invited her for dinner several nights a week, included ...

DEAR HELOISE: I have a hint for reusing Christmas cards. When my children were young, we would take the Christmas cards that we had received, and they would cut out circles using a wide-mouthed canning ring. Then we would put them on clear contact paper and cut them to the size of a placemat ...

DEAR DR. ROACH: How do I get primary care doctors to understand that I do not do any health screenings and that their badgering only infuriates me more. My feeling is that if you’re not going to treat me, why test me? I only need the doctor for prescriptions and referrals to a specialist if I ...