On Your Table: Celebrate National Gardening Month

Enjoy a family adventures starting vegetables from seeds By Cathy Branciaroli, Food Correspondent,The Times Planting seeds for a summer garden is a great family project. Vegetable plants can also be gotten at local garden centers. Starting seeds that will grow to produce this summer’s garden bounty and then nurturing a backyard garden plot can be a fun family project.   It’s the miracle...

Take care of yourself, it’s surprisingly sexy

When you feel beautiful, you are By Nancy Plummer, Columnist, The Times We’ve all encountered more than our fair share of unsolicited romantic advice from friends, from family, and (most brazenly) from drunken friends of the family! But with contradicting and archaic advice mixed in with the helpful hints, it’s hard to figure out which tips we should discard and which we should hold onto and implement...

Chief Cork Officer: 10 under $10

Great tastes and values in red wines By Brian Gurnham, Columnist, The Times Did you know that the average price paid for a bottle of wine in the United States is $6.30?  With the recent arsenic scare naming budget wine producers, maybe the average will go up.  But, as one who is doing everything budgetary possible to move the needle upwards, I thought it would be worth some semi-scientific research...

Spring cleaning can apply to health as well

Sometimes, a lot of little things cause big issues By Dr. Matthew Lapp, Columnist, The Times Spring has finally sprung and after the winter we had, we deserve it!  For many people, the change of season also marks an opportunity for spring cleaning inside and outside the home.  If you’re like me, maybe you’ve noticed that the shrubs and grass are almost due for a trim or that the basement or...

On Your Table: Spring means tasty local Asparagus

April to June is the best season for fresh local crop By Cathy Branciaroli,  Food Correspondent, The Times An easy and light dish is Asparagus quiche which can be made with many spring ingredients Asparagus is one of those spring treasures that we patiently wait for all year long. Once it’s finally in season, we want to treat it simply, letting the fresh flavor of this vegetable shine through....

Tooth loss is more than a cosmetic problem

Health impact of lost teeth can include mental, physical decline in old age By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times Tooth loss is more than just uncomfortable.   While reading a journal article I discovered a study from London that was published in an American geriatrics journal. Apparently in a study of adults over age 60 those who had lost all of their teeth had a more significant...

Cooking up ways to feed family on budget

Program at Coatesville Library will stress healthy, economical meals  While the children enjoy Lil’ Critters at the Coatesville Library, parents are invited to participate in free cooking and nutrition instruction. Cindy Seigafuse from the Penn State Extension will be demonstrating delicious, healthful meals starting Feb. 11 and running through March 4 from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon. The program,...

State warns of approaching unhealthy air mass

Those with respiratory problems urged to limit outdoor activity Saturday Harrisburg – The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and its regional air quality partnerships have forecast a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day on Saturday, Feb. 1, due to the unseasonably warm air mass moving in this weekend. DEP and the partnerships urge residents sensitive to air pollution to limit outdoor...

How to get your kids to eat fruits and vegetables

It may take a little creativity and marketing, but it can be done By Nina Gundecha, Columnist, The Times All parents have faced the wrath of a five year old who refuses to eat his spinach because he doesn’t like the look of it… the taste of it… the smell of it… or, the texture of it.  In fact, he likes absolutely nothing about it and there is nothing you can do at that moment to get the five...

Pa. receives poor grade for reducing tobacco use

Report from Am. Lung Assn. cites failures that are costing lives Pennsylvania received grades ranging from failing to mediocre when it came to taking steps to reduce tobacco use in 2013, said a news release on Tuesday, Jan. 21, from the American Lung Association. Less than a week after the new Surgeon General’s report on smoking and health – which warns 5.6 million of today’s youth will die...