The blaring return to the madness of the holidays this year may prove a bit jarring. So we asked Dr. Jacqueline Arenz, chief of psychiatry and medical director of Chestnut Hill Hospital’s Senior Behavioral Health Unit, as well as colleague Zia Ortega, nursing unit director of the Senior Behavioral Health Unit, to fill us in on ways we can cope with this holiday pandemonium. more

I never thought I’d be saying this, but I might have to listen to my mother and get my own captain’s chest freezer, the kind she’s been loving for years in her own basement. more

This year, I’m celebrating and advocating the return of the Cookie Swap Party. After being on hiatus last year, the parties are back, and they’re a win-win for everyone involved. more

Edna Buchanan has been my inspiration for more than twenty five years, but she doesn’t know it. She might never know it, but she sent this writer down a path of writing hard news, then … more

Staffing shortages, supply chain hiccups plague restaurants. more

I’ve already talked turkey in the column, and talked about prepping the Thanksgiving food, I thought I’d take a look this week at one of the most important parts of the meal: the holiday table. more

Bledar Istrefi came to Philadelphia after winning the immigration lottery in 2004. When he left Albania in 2005 to start a new life in Philadelphia, food was always going to be part of the picture. more

As I write this, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that this Thanksgiving holiday, many of us will be cooking for 20 or more, as opposed to last year, when we made a miniscule turkey for our immediate family – or no turkey at all. more

The Avenues Café offers Lee Locklear a chance to blend his business acumen and cultural heritage. more

Every single year when Halloween rolls around, my daughter says the same thing. “Mom, be the cool house on the block, give away whole Hershey bars or something.” more

I always love to report about new restaurant openings, especially after a long year where so many restaurants shut their ovens, bars and lights, never to reopen. more

Terra Nova Wood-Fired Pizza and Grill on East Willow Grove Ave. in Wyndmoor, takeout, delivery and online ordering only. more

Retro foods are making a comeback, and you’ll also find it might be harder right about now to find all the new products you got hooked on pre-pandemic. more

Chestnut Hill is getting a brand new Italian hotspot in about six or seven weeks. That’s just in time for the chilly air, hearty fall foods and holidays to make this daydream a reality. more

Everything you ever wanted to know about making and enjoying beer can be learned at the Attic Brewing Company. more

Every day over at the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, an army of tireless volunteers puts together about 70 meals for local seniors and those who need assistance. more

So this is one of those food column stories that comes along once in a blue moon and I jumped at the chance to cover it. It’s a story involving someone on my all-time top five list of people I must meet before I die, and it’s a story that could only happen here in Philly. more

Fall foods are the best. Earthy, comforting, and hearty only scratches the surface of this culinary season. more

For many of us, the backyard firepit got us through the long days and nights of the pandemic, a social lifeline that let us sit around and chat with drinks and s’mores night after night. After night. After night. more

Recently we happened to be walking to our car, which was parked just off the 6100 block of Ridge Avenue in Roxborough, when we happened to notice Roxy Hall & Bistro, a new “soul … more