Food is supposed to bring people together.
It sits at the center of our holidays, church potlucks, birthday parties, first dates, family reunions and late-night kitchen conversations. In Texas especially, I feel like feeding people is one of the purest forms of love we know. We celebrate with casseroles, comfort with pies, and gather around smoked meats and shared desserts.
Food is hospitality. Food is belonging.
But for some people, food is also calculation.
Before the appetizers even arrive, some of us are already scanning ingredients, evaluating risk, rehearsing questions, and trying to determine whether asking those questions is about to make everyone at the table uncomfortable.

Read the full feature in On The Table in your Thursday Bowie News.

As gardeners we think about flora and fauna, but I would like to suggest one more. And that is fragrance.
Fragrance is one of those memory makers. Memories for the children who grow up with garden fragrance and for spouses celebrating anniversaries. It’s not just the memories of the flowers’ beauty, but also that Mom and Dad grew them and what the time was like.
Today, I had a flashback to that moment in time as I walked out onto my patio. I wasn’t planning an olfactory experience nor did I even think about growing more Supertunia petunias than ever before.

Read the full Garden Guy column in your Thursday Bowie News.