What do you reach for when cleaning a kitchen cutting board or caring for a scratch? A disinfectant, antiseptic, or an antibiotic? Disinfectants and antiseptics are chemical compounds with the …
As the seasons change, our immune systems must overcome a new set of variables to keep us healthy. Doctors can only do so much, and I firmly believe it is up to me to do the best I can to stay as …
Q: What is RSV? Respiratory syncytial virus, abbreviated RSV, is also known as human orthopneumovirus. One of the most common causes of severe respiratory …
It’s nice to know how to make sauces like white sauce, cheese sauce, and gravy. I’ll never forget the first time I actually considered gravy-making. I was seven, maybe eight years …
Q: When is the best time to get a flu shot? The CDC recommends those aged 65 and older get vaccinated in September or October rather …
I visited Caren and Jake over the weekend and as I usually do when visiting, went to church with them on Sunday. They use old-fashioned hymnals and I like that. I am confident my kids started to …
Q: Every summer, my nose runs, and my eyes itch from my allergies. Which antihistamine is best? When you come in contact with something you’re allergic to, your body releases histamine, …
This weekend Kat took me to her favorite u-pick orchard. She and I were heading home from shopping in town when she got a text from a friend; turned to me and asked, “Mom, would you like to …
In the evenings before heading to bed Grandpa prepares the coffee pot to make five cups of coffee in the morning: one cup for me and two cups each for him and Grandma. In the wee hours of the morning …
Grandma started making ginger snaps this morning before Grandpa and I got up. (She does her baking early in the day during the summer months so she’s not warming up the kitchen in the heat of …
Grandma and I were preparing bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches for dinner when Grandpa came in. He took his place at the table like he does most evenings after working during the day around the …
Our oldest, Kat, brought me 10 lb. of cherries. She asked me if I wanted some tart cherries before she went to pick them; I asked how much do they cost; she said the farmer wanted a dollar a pound. I …
When Grandma Lydia was a young girl, her family lived on a farm. She had eleven siblings, six brothers, five older than she; and five sisters, two older and three younger. With that many folks in the …
I spent the morning helping Grandpa put a twenty-seven-foot truss beam together in the cramped shop (like everything that is useful, the shop is big, just not quite big enough for the next project) …
Beans are one of the nicest ways to eat protein. They provide fiber for the bowels, texture to the dish and are (usually) easy on the pocketbook. I came across this method of making three bean salad …
One early September morning in 1977, I hustled up three flights of stairs to the third floor of College Hall at Washington State University in Pullman, for my first pharmacy laboratory session. I …
I like cornmeal mush. It was one of our favorite breakfasts growing up on the farm. I liked it best with a splash of cream from Grandma’s favorite milking short horn cow, Libby. That old …
The rapid development of artificial intelligence has many people nervous, and for good reason. Through data input and algorithms, artificial intelligence can learn, adapt, and ultimately synthesize …
You could have seen the movie The Sting, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Its soundtrack introduced ragtime music, showcasing Scott Joplin’s musical genius. 1974 the Food and Drug …
Pickle Juice Pizazz When I was a youngling, in single digit years, Grandpa, then a young man, got hired as a schoolteacher at the edge of civilization. It suited him and Grandma, then in their …