Columnists

Back in early March, I was invited to be one of the featured speakers of a local “farmer to you” direct sales marking group called Country Crossroads. The topic of my presentation was called “Creating Branded Recipes.” I presented a list of steps, ideas and inspiration to help guide the members of the group towards creating their own recipes with their name as part of the title. One of the presentation bullet points led to the inspiration of this week's column.

As you and your friends and family get set for the Independence Day celebrations here in the South Valley, I hope you’ll take a moment to think about the great American experiment we are a part of today. The word “experiment” to describe our republic is a fitting one. Many of the leaders who founded our nation were scientifically astute and understood the principles of carrying out tests to prove or disprove revolutionary ideas – including political ideas.

TO LOSE weight in a healthy way, embrace fats. That’s right, eating fats does not make you fat. In the last couple of years, research has proven that eating a diet with heart-healthy fats—the fat found in avocados, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil, ground flaxseed and nuts, for instance—is significantly more likely to lead to long-term weight loss compared to a low-fat approach.

So you're getting married, congratulations! Whether you are young and marrying for the first time or a bit older and tying the knot again, this column can help you build a good foundation as you begin your new life together.

Recently we observed the 40th anniversary of the first manned

Webster’s definition for understudy: an actor who learns the part of another actor so as to serve as a substitute when necessary. Here is where prolific, Pulitzer Prize nominee, author and playwright Theresa Rebeck (recently creator of TV’s “Smash”) lets the fall out of what it means to be an understudy in this wacky, witty rendition of a Broadway play within a play by (wait for it) Franz Kafka.

It’s beginning to look like California will get bullet trains after all, but it won’t be quite as grandiose a system as what the state’s High Speed Rail Authority at first wanted or what voters approved in the 2008 Proposition 1A.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus commands his followers to serve others: feed the hungry, welcome strangers, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit prisoners. That remains perhaps the central message of Christianity: to reach out and help others in need.

It's back-to-school time; you don't need to have a school-age