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1 week ago | 
news-journal.com | Barbara Richardson McClellan
Maybe you can help me with this quandary, dilemma or pickle of a predicament. Though this situation does not affect me anymore, I know that many of you have this Mother’s Day thing with which to deal. Here it is: If you are a mother, a mother-figure, a mother-in-law or an “other mother, then you’re involved.
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2 weeks ago | 
news-journal.com | Barbara Richardson McClellan
Are you surprised that I haven’t mentioned it lately? I bring this topic up on a regular basis, and it’s already past time. I should have jumped on this before now. If you have been “reading me” for any amount of time, you know that I am determined to get you to grow your own herbs. I have rhapsodized, sermonized and glorified the advantage of planting seeds or small plants of culinary herbs.
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3 weeks ago | 
news-journal.com | Barbara Richardson McClellan
Did you make deviled eggs with all the leftover Easter eggs? Oh, no — wait. This year, due to the cost of eggs, people were dying potatoes. Actually, I believe the new way does not involve dye, eggs, or potatoes but plastic, various colored eggs that must be filled with candy with no nuts, no chocolate, no gluten, no artificial coloring and no milk products. How in the world did we survive the lifestyles with which we grew up?
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1 month ago | 
news-journal.com | Barbara Richardson McClellan
All right — the time has come. We need to talk cooking (haven’t we been doing this for a while?)Spring brings so many opportunities for entertaining, all of which involve planning, preparation, shopping, cooking, decorating and serving. Think of everything that this week brings — primarily Easter for many groups. If you are the “plan far ahead in every aspect” kind, you are the smart ones.
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1 month ago | 
news-journal.com | Barbara Richardson McClellan
A bargain? A bargain, you say? Let’s look at several options for spending our food dollars wisely. First, I realize we are talking about different situations, age groups, family sizes and a vast difference in economic needs when discussing food dollars. I am not sure of the demographics of you readers, whom I consider friends, but I sort of think that many of you are not in the early stages of building your families. Those are/were the days when three meals a day were required to keep all nourished.
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1 month ago | 
news-journal.com | Barbara Richardson McClellan
It’s your fault! I was finally reconciled to the fact that I really need to put an end to this foolishness called “From My Kitchen." After all, I have pounded this column out longer than most of you have been alive — since Feb. 11, 1970. Fifteen different presidents have served in my lifetime (some have had two terms, and one, Franklin D. Roosevelt, four terms), but for the most part, one term each. I had to find my ruler with all the presidents listed up to George W. Bush.
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1 month ago | 
news-journal.com | Barbara Richardson McClellan
So you think spring is here? Check the calendar — yes, the date is correct. Check the gorgeous spring trees, bushes, flowers, bursting forth — more than ever. Now, here’s the true proof: Is your vehicle, though it could have been any color in the rainbow, totally covered in yellow pine pollen? There’s the proof!Spring in East Texas is here! I hope you have visited your local pharmacy for the necessary supplies of antihistamine, tissues, nose spray and various other medications.
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1 month ago | 
news-journal.com | Barbara Richardson McClellan
Editor's note: This column was originally published in April 2020. As I pondered this week’s column, I had a terrific idea. I rolled it around in my mind all week and the more I thought about it, the better it got until the brutal truth slammed me right in the face. The column was going to be sharing recipes with you that could be made with things the ordinary kitchen has on hand all the time. Then I thought about our fridge versus the immaculate, neatly arranged fridges and pantries of friends.
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2 months ago | 
news-journal.com | Barbara Richardson McClellan
Did you realize that only 9.5% (32 million) Americans report being of Irish descent? We (my maternal and paternal ancestors) are Irish, which is the third most common ancestry in the U.S. English and German are first and second, respectively. St. Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland and other countries in that region.
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2 months ago | 
news-journal.com | Barbara Richardson McClellan
It’s March! I know you knew that already. It’s the time of year when I wish I had planted tulips in the fall because they are blooming everywhere now. I volunteer at one of Longview’s best kept secrets, which I wish was not such a secret — the beautiful Longview Arboretum and Nature Center at 706 W. Cotton St.The garden opened Nov. 2, 2019. This ever-growing garden is a living testament to the love of community and the soul-enriching quality of spending time in nature.
