Lifestyles category, Page 44

Certain foods are inextricably linked with game day parties: chicken wings, nachos, chili, guacamole … and salsa. Bowls and bowls of salsa. And while you can always pop open a jar, homemade salsa is extremely simple to make. The only skill it requires is a willingness to chop, mince and...

If you’re sending your sweetheart cut flowers or a potted plant for Valentine’s Day, choose ones that are safe for their pets. One lick of a pollen-covered lily stamen can be life-threatening to cats, as my daughter Julia learned when her cat, Nyah, found her way to a beautiful and...

For many of us, it’s not really Valentine’s Day unless there is chocolate involved. What an excellent reason to mix up a pan of brownies. And these — these are the brownies you want to make. If I had to say which of my recipes were most popular, these One-Pot...

A hearty and easy way to feed a crowd, chili is an ideal addition to a Super Bowl party. But to add interest to this savory winter staple, we reach for an ingredient from the baking world. This recipe from our book “Cook What You Have,” which draws on pantry...

The streets of Ohiopyle bustle with visitors during the warm months, as people flock to the Fayette County community for its recreational opportunities, scenic views and dining options. In the winter, it’s a different story. Many days, there’s hardly a soul to be seen along Main Street in the tiny...

“Love, Listen, Learn and Lead” was the theme of the Westmoreland County Chamber Annual Prayer Breakfast, held Jan. 27 at Ferrante’s Lakeview in Hempfield. Those values were separately explored in a series of spiritual readings. “Love” was covered by Heather McLean, outreach coordinator for Mental Health America of Southwestern PA;...

SANTA ANA ZIROSTO, Mexico — It is a long and sometimes dangerous journey for avocados destined for guacamole on tables and tailgates in the United States during the Super Bowl. It starts in villages like Santa Ana Zirosto, high in the misty, pine-clad mountains of the western Mexico state of...

Limbs and rectangles “Fleshy Limb Filled Rectangles,” an exhibition by Kenneth Nicholson, will open Saturday at StopWatch Gallery & Studio, 323 S. Main St., Greensburg. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. The show features oil paintings and drawings of figures and portraits, which the artist says are “aggressively disassembled and...

The YWCA Westmoreland County will begin its Black History Month programming Saturday, with the opening of an exhibit of work by Greensburg artist Pamela Cooper. The featured drawings, paintings and sculptures are a survey of her life as an artist and as a Black woman, Cooper said. “They reflect work...

HILDALE, Utah — The tea tasted bitter and earthy, but Lorenzo Gonzales drank it anyway. On that frigid night in remote Utah, he was hoping for a life-changing experience, which is how he found himself inside a tent with two dozen others waiting for the psychedelic brew known as ayahuasca...

The so-called green comet will make its closest approach to Earth in about 50,000 years late Wednesday/early Thursday, but whether you’ll see it in the skies above Western Pennsylvania is debatable. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have increasing cloudiness overnight,” said Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in...

Certain foods are inextricably linked with game day parties: chicken wings, nachos, chili, guacamole … and salsa. Bowls and bowls of salsa. And while you can always pop open a jar, homemade salsa is extremely simple to make. The only skill it requires is a willingness to chop, mince and...

Despite being surrounded by thousands of college students, Mad Mex in Oakland could not find enough employees to remain open. After nearly 30 years in business on the corner of Atwood and Bates Streets, the restaurant has closed. “I can’t tell you how many people have said to me, ‘There...

LOS ANGELES — Rounds of sliced-thin, pink, white-speckled mortadella are popping up on sandwiches, on charcuterie plates and even in the occasional cocktail in Los Angeles, but it’s hard to view any food item depicted in ancient Roman carvings as a flash in the pan. The Italian deli meat that...

Imagine tasting a sweet humungous Nancy B’s Bakery chocolate chip cookie in a brewed liquid form. That’s right. Nancy B’s Bakery of West Homestead has collaborated with Allegheny City Brewing in the North Side’s Deutschtown neighborhood for a dessert beer for a fourth year — only this time they are...

Here are two scoops. Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor in Pittsburgh’s Strip District is marking the 100th year of its founding. And it’s also no longer for sale. “Klavon’s is a piece of Pittsburgh history, and I feel like not enough people know about it,” said Desiree Hanchar, of Fox Chapel,...

Thanks to improved taste and texture, it’s easier than ever to work alternative meat sources into meals. A decade ago, this would have been a very different story. Meat alternatives such as tofu and tempeh were centuries old; frozen “veggie burgers” and the earliest plant-based meats had been on the...

In Morocco, djej mechoui simply means grilled chicken, but the aroma coming off it makes clear that it is so much more. Slathered in smen, or fermented butter, the bird is richly seasoned with a mixture of cilantro, parsley, paprika, cayenne and cumin before being cooked over glowing coals. The...

When Wiener World opened on Smithfield Street in Downtown Pittsburgh in 1965, the disc jockeys in KQV radio’s storefront studio a block away were only in their second year of playing Beatles records, Lyndon Johnson was president and the U.S. was still four years away from landing a man on...

Sometimes you just want to have a little, old-fashioned fun. The Westmoreland Museum of American Art provided just the ticket, packing decades of enjoyment into one night at its Jan. 21 Vintage Ball. Everything old felt new again, as guests flocked to the sold-out soiree looking like they’d stepped out...

Calling someone a “so-and-so” is not a compliment, but change the spelling to “Sew ’n Sew,” and the term takes on a new — and positive — meaning. It’s the name adopted by a group of women who meet monthly at Zion’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Greensburg. At home and...

About 150 guests heard the inside scoop about local filming of the Netflix historical thriller “The Pale Blue Eye” prior to a Jan. 19 screening at Fort Ligonier. The blacksmith shop at nearby Compass Inn Museum in Laughlintown was transformed into an 1830s tavern for a scene between actors Christian...

Two young men shared very different stories of success during the Westmoreland Community Action annual board meeting and luncheon. JT, 19, of Greensburg told how he received help in finding housing through WCA’s Transitional Age Living Program. He, his mother and two siblings became homeless on the day of his...

Awards judge Lisa Rasmussen took an extra step to familiarize herself with the works submitted to “Earth Wind & Fire,” the new members exhibition at Greensburg Art Center. She supervised the placement of the 96 pieces on the gallery walls. Her picks were announced by center President Jerry Scorpion during...

The cross details and All Saints name remain on the front of the building, the beloved home to nuns for many years. But, as is protocol for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh when a religious building is being reposed, anything liturgical, including stained glass with symbols such as a chalice...