Monday: Beefy macaroni casserole or smothered chicken with potatoes, California-blend veggies, green peas and sugar-free apple crisp or cook's choice dessert. Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan with pasta or stuff bell pepper casserole, mixed vegetables, lettuce salad, whole-grain bread slice and tropical fruit dessert or banana pudding with cookies...

Texas Roadhouse in Cape Girardeau will hold a dine-in-to-donate for the Brain Injury and Stroke Support Group from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29. Mention the group to your wait staff and 10 percent of your purchase will be donated. It includes dine in, carry out and gift cards...

I have often been told that it is important to learn something new every day. Learning something new every day seems a bit exhausting and daunting, however, continuing to learn has been shown to benefit your health, increase your confidence, and keeps you engaged. ...

Late winter coincides with the time of year when songbird numbers are at their lowest. Let's think about why that would be. We are a long way from last spring, when nests were being built and babies were being raised. The many months between that time and now always sees songbird numbers drop and then be replenished when the babies come in springtime...

Every evening as I get ready for bed, I empty my pockets of whatever ended up in them during the day. As I was dumping everything out the other evening, I wondered what others pack around every day in their pants or shirt pocket. At times, I have the same thing in the evening as I started out with in the morning, but there are times when I end up with some extras. ...

Immaculate Conception School in Jackson announce Chelsea McDowell is the 2023 NCEA Distinguished Graduate Award. She is a 2003 graduate of Immaculate Conception School and a 2007 graduate of Jackson High School. She attended the University of Missouri -- Columbia and received a bachelor's degree in sociology. ...

Some of the most valuable documents for genealogy are wills and the documents related to the legal process of administering a person's property after their death. This process is called probate. If the deceased wrote a valid will, probate is termed testate; if not, it is intestate. ...

James R. Reid was born in Auburn, Missouri, Feb. 18, 1838, the fourth child of seven. He grew up in Lincoln County, Missouri, receiving his education at Prairieville Academy, founded by his father, James Reid Sr. After graduation in 1856, he began his teaching career in Pike County, Missouri, then taught a short time in Nebraska before returning to Missouri to open a high school with M.S. Goodman at Clarksville, where he taught mathematics...

This week I explored the taste of India at one of my favorite local restaurants: The Spanish Street Farmacy. I stopped by and spoke to the brains behind the "virtual" operation, Frank Green. Green explained he became interested in the Gongora (Hibiscus sabdariffa) plant while breaking bread with friends from India. ...

Warm, winter comfort food is on the menu this week. As we push on through January, I went to some saved recipe files to look for a few recipes that you might enjoy as a pick-me-up on these short winter days. I have included a variety of protein choices so surely there will be something for everyone. I have not made beef shanks in a long time, so I am definitely going to add this to our supper rotation, and I know Scott will enjoy them!...

Citrus fruits are a staple in my house 365 days a year, but I appreciate these fruits the most during the colder months. Other fruits are in scarcer supply in the winter, which is the peak season for citrus. Plus, when most of our cooking tends to include heavier foods with deeper flavors, that's when I think citrus has the chance to shine best. A wonderful foil to richer ingredients...

n Adult coloring will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23. Join library staff for a casual coloring session. The library will provide pages, colored pencils and a fun atmosphere to color and socialize. n Bit-sized chefs will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. ...

Life takes many different turns. It's like the winding road that lazily winds up and around a mountain. You hit a smooth stretch for a distance, and then before you know it, you're going in circles trying to stay on the road. Whether it's a turn we choose, or one that suddenly appears in front of us, we have to change directions. ...

Like many other people in the 45 U.S. states in which the game is played, this writer bought Mega Millions tickets earlier this month, hoping to win $1.35 billion. I bought a grand total of two tickets, telling the cashier at my local Jackson supermarket yours truly had no expectation of winning...

We are blessed to live in the United States of America. Christians attend churches without fear of being arrested. We have free access to Bibles and religious materials. It is usually when we take our religious beliefs from our place of worship into the marketplace that we see opposition...

Kage FCE met Jan. 12 at the Cape girardeau Senior Center. Jobyna Daume called the meeting to order. Barbara Marshall gave the devotional titled "I treasure each moment." As the year 2022 ended, we all have special moments, especially the memories of being with our families on Christmas, seeing them laughing and having fun. The group then sang "Auld Lang Syne," which is a Scottish term meaning "days gone by."...

It isn't unusual to find a few mushrooms during winter in Missouri. Some kinds of mushrooms will begin to grow when a week or so of days get to around 55 degrees or higher, with nighttime temperatures not dropping below about 30 degrees Fahrenheit. I accidentally happened upon this small mushroom Sunday, Jan. ...

Monday: Scrambled eggs and sausage patty or chicken tenders, pancakes with syrup, baked hash browns with onions, bran muffin, hot baked apples and orange juice. Tuesday: Chicken pot pie or country-fried steak with potatoes, Lima beans, whole-grain biscuit and Mandarin oranges or iced orange cake...

When we get into the New Year ,I begin receiving gosh knows how many garden catalogs, so my mind begins to dream gardening. So as I thumb through the catalogs I begin making a list, which leads to orders, several orders. How about you -- do you have your seeds? I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to shop early this year while there are still seeds to be found. ...

During the 1800s and 1900s, most merchandise anyone would want to buy could be found in downtown Cape Girardeau or the Haarig area of Good Hope. Broadway was predominately the street of beautiful homes. In 1905, a young man, William Richard Townsend, brought his family to Cape Girardeau from Indiana and founded the Second-Hand Furniture Store in 1914 after spending time in ministerial service for the Pentecostal denomination...

There are some foods that I never want to cook at home because of the bother: pork rinds, a real steamed Christmas pudding, anything fried, especially chicken. Juicy, crispy, delicious fried chicken definitely tops that list. So the last couple of weeks, I started asking people where they like to get their fried chicken. Much to my (probably naive) surprise, many people told me Food Giant...

As I put recipes together for this week, the weather has turned cold, and hot soup sounds like the perfect supper. But by next week, the weather could be back up in the 60-degree range. It makes it hard to know what to wear when the temperatures fluctuate so much each week...

Monday: Center closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Tuesday: Pasta with meat sauce or yummy chicken casserole, Italian-blend veggies, buttered corn, garlic bread and pear dessert or ice cream and cookie. Wednesday: Salisbury steak or Polish sausage, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, Brussels sprouts, whole-grain bread slice and sugar-free peach crisp or Texas sheet cake...

When you are 2 years old, there are lots of interesting things in the world. In this case it's as simple as a drop of water. My inquisitive granddaughter joined me on a cool rainy afternoon recently. She was fascinated by tiny drops of water the rain had deposited on horizontal limbs close to the ground. Of course I was fascinated, too...

I was visiting with a friend the other day, and we got to talking about what we visit about. Normally it's about what we have in common and what we differ on as well. When I call a gardening friend, we talk about gardening, the weather, our health and about our friends. ...

We are almost halfway there. When this column prints, we will be almost halfway through January 2023. The next few days may be the make-or-break week for your new year's resolutions. A poll of 2,000 Americans reveals that, on average, most resolutions are discarded within 32 days of making them. Sticking to the habits accompanying the goals you want to reach is more critical this week than you may have known. So I want to offer some encouragement to help you in the new year...

Bartholomew Cousin was Louis Lorimier's secretary; a talented man who knew French, English, Spanish, Latin and native languages; and owner of large land parcels. Cousin's talents were essential to Lorimier and the county. Stories often mention the demolition of his house in 1946, which was the only remaining log structure downtown...