Living Well Etc.

  Eat Well, Spend Less, and Engage Children This Holiday Season As a young mother, many years later a small business owner, now retired, I've always found ways to save money.   The holidays often bring budget-busting challenges, especially when hosting the extended-family Thanksgiving dinner.  However, after 30+ years of hosting, I've come up with some great money-saving tips.  Follow along as I share mine with you.    Decorate with found objects or real fruit and vegetables. Feeding a large group of people doesn't leave much room in the budget for decorations.  This doesn't have to be an issue as most of us have just the right table centerpiece in our own homes.   I often dress a large oval plate with leaves, pine needles, or herbs from my garden.  On top of this, I arrange fruit, vegetables, nuts, pinecones...whatever I can find that looks appealing.  One year, I filled the plate with bright orange persimmon...

  Holiday dinners with the Italian side of my family are some of my best memories.  With Thanksgiving coming up very soon, those memories are playing with my sense of reality, as fond memories tend to do.  I just want to jump into those visions and be that little girl watching my grandpa, as head of the family, command everyone to "mangiare" (eat).  These events were full of playful banter and the occasional heated discussion that always ended in laughter and wine.  Nevertheless, for the most part, they were centered around dining—cooking, drinking good wine, sharing, and eating.  One really can't just sit at the table and chow down though.  This is especially true at the Italian table.  I noticed this on our latest trip to Italy as well.  Our interactions with one another are very important.  And we weave our interactions around the meal.  It's like an intricate dance of interaction and precise utensil usage, all the wh...