These story collections about the captivating Mitford Sisters were edited by historian and author Lyndsy Spence. My contributions:

Wolf for Two: A Wartime Dinner with Pamela Mitford & M.F.K. Fisher

Nancy in Wartime

Camelot in the Derbyshire Dales

What Would Decca Do: A Muckraker’s Legacy

I’m going to claim this surprisingly delightful recipe for Fredericksburg, Virginia, where it’s surely more popular than anywhere else on earth.

In its first step toward immortality, it appeared on the menu of Laszlo’s Weenie World, a once-a-year restaurant set up for the Virginia State Frisbee Tournament.

Link to article at Food52

There’s something about chili -- so versatile and satisfying. Top it with cheese, sour cream, avocado, crumbled crackers, or diced fresh onions and hot peppers. Roll it into a tortilla with some rice. Pour it over a burger. It’s all good.

My favorite recipe is a vegetarian version from my former restaurant in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Dedicated carnivores and vegans alike happily slurped it up. If you prefer meat in yours, by all means go ahead -- it’ll be terrific.

Link to article at Food52

If sound bite-filled news stories leave you longing for perspective and analysis, The Pinky Show might be just what you need. Each animated episode features Pinky the cat, who presents a topic she’s curious about and explains how she plans to learn about it. After some research, she and her animal friends clearly state and interpret the implications of their findings, and, while doing so, present and clarify marginalized perspectives, obscure histories, suppressed knowledge and misinformation. The Pinky Show is created by Associated Animals, Inc., a non-profit educational organization. If you spend some time with Pinky, you’ll walk away feeling informed, enlightened, and inspired to question and explore.

One of the ways the military has traditionally acknowledged these sacrifices is to assure military members that, come what may, their families will be taken care of. From the routine—PX access, health care, housing allowances—to the extreme—SGLI, survivor benefits—military families know that their basic needs will be met. It doesn’t make it easy, but it makes it doable. That is, unless your spouse is the same gender as you are.

A new school year is a great time to start a new routine. So why not take the opportunity to cultivate some healthy new eating habits? It's easy to make better choices if you start with a plan.

Kids are terrific shakers and stirrers, and even the youngest cooks can help with mixing or measuring. For older kids, you can delegate and supervise tasks that involve basic knife skills or active cooking, all while creating homemade deliciousness. And best of all, you’ll choose every ingredient while putting your kids on the path to kitchen literacy, a skill that will save them money, keep them healthier and even win them dates someday.