Food

by Marilyn Q

a collection of cherished recipes that are more than just instructions; they are a tribute to the traditions and flavors that have been passed down through generations, offering a taste of nostalgia with every bite. Whether you're a seasoned cook or a beginner just starting out, these recipes are designed to be accessible and rewarding. With straightforward instructions and ingredients that are as familiar as they are wholesome, anyone can create these dishes in their own kitchen. The essence of Gramma’s cooking is not just in the food itself, but in the experience of making it—of slowing down, savoring the process, and sharing the results with loved ones. As you flip through these pages, we hope you’ll find more than just recipes. We hope you’ll discover a connection to the past, a sense of comfort in the present, and a culinary foundation you can build on for the future. So gather your ingredients, roll up your sleeves, and whether you’re just putting on your first apron or you’ve been cooking for years, let the aromas of Gramma’s kitchen fill your home. There’s no need for perfection— just a willingness to cook with love and enjoy the simple pleasures of good, honest food.

by Donald N Walker

*"What happens when a fifteen-year-old dishwasher discovers that professional kitchens and hard liquor both offer the same thing? An escape from the noise inside his head."*\ \ For Donald N. Walker, the answer is a thirty-five-year journey through some of America's finest kitchens and darkest corners—a story of extraordinary culinary achievement built on a foundation that was crumbling from the very first drink. At thirteen, Walker blacked out for the first time.\ At forty-eight, standing in a parking lot in Victor, Idaho, with everything he owned in a borrowed pickup truck, he'd been fired, laid off, or escorted out of more kitchens than he could count without a piece of paper. He had five DUI arrests across three states. He had slept in a homeless shelter while employed at one of the most exclusive resorts in the American West. And he was about to do the single best thing he would ever do. This is the instruction manual on how not to do it—and the hard-won wisdom of a man who finally learned to put down the shovel. **How NOT to Do It** weaves three powerful narratives into a singular, unforgettable memoir. First, it's a culinary coming-of-age story that takes readers from the chaos of an Ohio smorgasbord's dish pit to working alongside Certified Master Chefs at elite country clubs, from the pirate-ship energy of Florida's Mad Hatter restaurant to catering thousand-person events with Secret Service oversight. Walker apprenticed under some of America's most decorated chefs, learning mother sauces, classical technique, and the particular satisfaction of plating food that earns a nod from people who don't give easy praise. For anyone who has ever loved the controlled chaos of a professional kitchen, this is your story told with the precision of a chef's knife and the honesty of a man with nothing left to hide. Second, it's an addiction and recovery memoir of brutal honesty. Walker's first blackout came at thirteen with a glass of mixed liquor stolen from his parents' cabinet. What followed were fifteen years of drinking without attempting to stop, then fifteen more years of starting and stopping, then finally—on January 1, 2022—sobriety that held. Between those bookends: multiple DUIs, jail time, lost relationships, geographical solutions that stretched from Ohio to Florida to Maryland to the Florida Keys to Idaho, jobs abandoned, opportunities squandered, and the slow, grinding realization that the thing he was running from was inside him the whole time. This is not a redemption story wrapped in a bow—it's the raw, unglamorous accounting of how addiction works, how it doesn't, and what it finally takes to stop digging. Third, it's a coming-of-age narrative about a boy who grew up on an Ohio apple orchard with a beloved Irish Setter named Sandy, watched his schizophrenic brother's eyes go empty, survived the bankruptcy that took the family farm, and learned early that the storm always felt more exciting than the calm. Walker carries readers through the geography of American restlessness: port cities and country clubs, college attempts and spectacular failures, the basement room with the back door that let him slip in and out unannounced, and the long road to Sweetwater, Tennessee, where he would finally stop running. For readers who love memoirs of resilience, Kitchen Confidential-style kitchen culture, or the hard-won wisdom of recovery literature, **How NOT to Do It** delivers all three with unflinching prose and dark humor.

by Wanda Dee

I believe the only civilization who was right in God's eyes were the natives to North America. Who's land was savagely stolen!  Everything we need is here on this earth in it's true useful form.  If the earth didn't make it  You shouldn't take it!  EVERYONE LIES!! EVERYONE!! AND IF YOU'RE LIKE ME YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHEN THEY DO! IT REALLY IS A CURSE IN THIS WORLD TODAY, CUZ ITS USUALLY OVER STUPID SHIT!  IT JUST MEANS THEY ARE NOT MATURE ENOUGH TO BE HONEST AND OWN THEIR FEELINGS.  INTEGRITY IS SO RARE TODAY. SO ARE HONESTY AND LOYALITY THEY DON'T EXSIST!  We were not meant to work 9 to 5 jobs 60 hrs a week just to pay the bills. Which doesn't anymore. Our family should have been our lives. Raising growing and schooling ourselves not some day care school or nanny!  Alot of younger people Gen x n z are tired of spending their time working or maintenance or cleaning on their property with no leftover time.  They are going to Tiny homes which are modern horse n wagons. Some all self contained just as we should be. Depending on only our tribe! These communities are growing all over the USA!  We would have saved our earth from it's self [destruction.by](http://destruction.by) not allowing the envy of false prosperity our wealth and innovation. But we are here now we can still survive and thrive in this world with the proper knowledge...I've put it all in one place! Health hacks, life hacks, family hacks, wealth hacks and everything else in between!  Finding and living your authentic self is our greatest achievement in our life!  I WISH YOU WELL ON YOUR JOURNEY!

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**For appearances only Ma’am stood by collecting old recipe cards are relics of reminiscing about baking or cooking in the Mennonite kitchens. Recipes are the pride and joy of their heritage.**   **“ What is so special about the lost recipe cards?” Marie Hershberger said,”I’m curious to know what the recipe might have been.?”**   **Ma’am replied,” Grossmama was entered in a baking contest. A secret recipe passed down from the Bontrager family. She miss placed them and what is upsetting the contest is only a week away.”**   **Nothing else was said then except Grossmama along with Ma’am helping her and daughter Olive. They bowed their heads in prayer just then around the family table.**   **Olive her Granddaughter, made way with boxes of old recipes from the attic. Dusting them off with a dust cloth, they began making their way through them. One by one looking at them was intriguing enough. Yet was it enough to find contest material?**   **Dat Bontrager had just finished Chores for the evening. “ I’ve heard Grossmama I’d hoped you’d of found the recipe cards . What do you do next.” His Dat following behind him. Grosspapa Bontrager said sorry fra ( wife) pray for you to find them or another favorite family recipe. “**   **Grossmama deep in thought at the moment. Looking serious at the recipes. “ I must have a recipe to make the tasting better than ever before tasted. Which makes the individual eating it love it. “**

by Broken Pencils 4363

The Great Lakes Deaf Men's Group \[GLDMG) Retreat is held annually for deaf and hard of hearing men to learn about God. This retreat was founded by Chris, who saw the need for a retreat for his fellow deaf men in Michigan 15 years ago.  Our deaf men's fellowship is a good opportunity to meet and make new friends as well as keeping. Participants come from Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Some car pool, stopping for lunch, after arriving in town, they'd have a bite to eat in town before camp. Some drive themselves or their wives would drop them off.

by H.B. West

When Sam’s terse hospital text arrives—"I’m still in California. Diagnosed with breast cancer today" ([#](https://wd.autocrit.com/editor/858686#id-fy7d))—the old man slips a whiskey under his coat, buys a one-way ticket, and heads for the rain-washed coasts of the British Isles. He is a man of small rituals: one more fly to tie, one more pub to learn, one more fish to catch. Along the way he collects strangers—Slick behind a bar, a red-haired Tralee traveler in a blue dress ([#](https://wd.autocrit.com/editor/858686#id-ebm9)), a cranky taxi driver who pins a daddy-long-legs fly to his lapel ([#](https://wd.autocrit.com/editor/858686#id-cmtz))—and each encounter loosens a knot he didn’t know he carried. But this is not just a travelogue; it is a reckoning. As storm Lorenzo drives him from the Isle of Man to the Lake District and across Scotland’s Spey ([#](https://wd.autocrit.com/editor/858686#id-pshp), [#](https://wd.autocrit.com/editor/858686#id-gur9), [#](https://wd.autocrit.com/editor/858686#id-jb4j)), the old man measures the steady tick of time against a bucket-list dream: to catch an Atlantic salmon on the fly ([#](https://wd.autocrit.com/editor/858686#id-no5k)). Wry, tender, and quietly fierce, this is a story about why we keep making plans in the face of good sense—and what happens when the future finally insists on being lived