I know what you’re thinking, “there’s no way making homemade gnocchi is an easy weeknight dinner”, but you’re wrong! If you have a food processor (and I realize not everyone does….but they’re on sale at Lowes this week so maybe you could look into it), then making these light and delicious gnocchi will take you about 20 minutes. And if you don’t have a processor, then save this recipe for a rainy weekend afternoon when you have an hour to kill and make them by hand.

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Tags: easy weeknight dinners, recipes & food by Jessica Alfreds
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On any given Sunday, have you ever wished that you knew a little more about football?  You’re watching with friends, everyone is yelling about the lousy blocking or the zone defense and you wish you knew what they were talking about?  Or maybe you wish your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse could get as excited about the pass coverage as you are?  This may be just the book you need.  A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football will teach new fans and old a little more about the game so many of us love.  The author, Mark Oristano, spent thirty years working for/with the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers.  Along the way, he picked up a lot of helpful information:

When you’ve finished, you won’t be able to immediately spot “Cover Two” or know which receiver broke his route off too soon or whether the ref made the right call when he signalled intentional grounding.  But you will understand, for example, why first-down plays are the most important play of any offensive drive. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, Lisa Reads by Lisa Hura
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My bedtime reading last night consisted of a few pages of John Cowper Powys’s The Art of Growing Old. Since I am only two years shy of the Biblical age, I figure it’s high time to get some pointers on how to deal with my impending dotage. [Read more →]

Tags: that's what he said, by Frank Wilson by Frank Wilson
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Recently, some women have worked themselves into a tizzy over President Obama and his good old boys club. Apparently, the ladies are feeling slighted as a result of the current White House testosterone-laden culture of ESPN, basketball games, and fist bumps. A major faux pas occurred when Obama sent out invitations to a White House basketball game with nary a woman on the list. Similarly, despite Obama’s many weekend golf games, only last weekend did a woman finally make it out to the links. [Read more →]

Tags: his & hers, politics & government by Nancy DeGregorio
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I am so far behind on TV it’s not even funny. Between my vacation (holla to my fellow PV Zoo Party-goers), the baseball playoffs, and my day job, I’m a good 2 weeks behind. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I desperately need some rerun weeks in order for me to catch up. So that being said, this week I can’t tell you highlights, lowlights, and what to watch next week (except for Yankee baseball, of course). So what do I talk about today? [Read more →]

Tags: Lauren Likes TV, music, television by Lauren LaBumbard
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Manny Ramirez is everything that is bad about sports. I could substitute his name for “Bad sports” in the title of my column, and people would still know what I meant.

There have been a lot of bad people in sports during my lifetime. Some are criminals. Some are drug addicts. Many are spoiled babies. Manny Ramirez is in a special class, though. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports by Alan Spoll
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10. You have to wheel an IV drip bag on a stand along with you.

9. Instead of candy, you ask for prunes.

8. Your “trick” involves taking out your dentures and then biting your own ear.

7. You’ve gone as Larry King, and you don’t need any makeup.

6. You’re the only SpongeBob on the block with a walker.

5. You can suck the chocolate off the Goobers, but you can’t then chew the peanuts.

4. Your grandkids tell you the best houses to hit.

3. Instead of candy corn, you keep hoping for corn pads.

2. When people open the door, instead of saying “Trick or treat,” you look confused, then start singing Christmas carols.

1. You keep seeing someone dressed up as the Grim Reaper – but you’re the only one who can see him.
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, ends & odd by Bob Sullivan
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Is it just me, or has 2009 been exceptionally rich in the deaths of legendary figures?  In August, Ted Kennedy was finally reunited in heaven with Mary Jo Kopechne. In July a much more interesting man, Harry Patch, the last veteran of World War I, died aged 111. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, travel & foreign lands by Daniel Kalder
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I love Halloween. In fact, I think I may have more fun getting dressed up than my kids. And since Halloween is on a Saturday this year we’ve decided to head down from New York to the suburbs of Philadelphia, so my kids can trick-or-treat with their 7-year-old cousin. My daughter is going as a rock star, my son is going as a T-Rex, my nephew is going as a ninja, and I thought I would go as a New York Yankee. [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, sports by Amy Boshnack
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You know you’re already thinking about it, especially if you’re one of the 7,000 Americans whose unemployment benefits are running out, or if you live in, say, Michigan. In these darkest of before-the-dawn days, maybe it’s a good time to reexamine the holiday gift-giving ritual and all its evil, consumer-driven overtones.

Or maybe, you know, not. Not this year. This year some of you would like a little normalcy, a little dignity, a little tradition, just with fewer finance charges and bank overdraft fees sprinkled on top.

I hear you. You want your brother-in-law to look over at you and say, “Nice,” and mean it. Impact, not indigence. Let’s get started — yes, pre-Halloween, so sue me – with 5 gifts to avoid giving. [Read more →]

Tags: advice, money by Ruby Mac
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