Remember coming home from elementary school with a handmade Mother’s Day present for Mom? No matter how scraggly or ill-conceived the present, moms can always manage to find something positive to say about it. But a gift of homemade candy is a surefire way to elicit those appreciative remark…

Cruise fans, and the hundreds of local residents who worked at the Galveston cruise port, are getting restless.

The herb fair runs from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., with vendors from all aspects of gardening, including seeds, plants, clothing, gardening tools and books.

Meringues are a component of many classic desserts because their lightness serves as a counterpoint to denser sweets such as custards or pie. 

A new cookbook asks that same question, and it also provides plenty of answers. Caterer and cookbook author Elizabeth Heiskell’s latest book, “What Can I Bring? Southern Food for Any Occasion Life Serves Up,” covers a multitude of ways to avoid showing up empty-handed in any situation where food will be appreciated and enjoyed.

Dyeing Easter eggs is a traditional rite of spring for many people. And every year, a small subset of those egg-dyers opts for the centuries-old technique of using botanical dyes found in the kitchen.

It’s maple syrup season, as the sap starts flowing in maple trees and is collected and refined into the amber nectar that enhances not just breakfast but every meal of the day.

St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect time to enjoy all things Irish, and the dairy products of the Emerald Isle are as highly regarded as the stout beer and whiskey that will figure in many of today’s celebrations.

This debate can be settled to everyone’s satisfaction because each size of asparagus lends itself to particular ways of cooking.

Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of the TV show “Fixer Upper,” have built an empire in Waco that their fans flock to in order to eat, sleep and shop in the Gaines’ properties.

Many of Texas’ signature winter crops, including grapefruit and other citrus, were wiped out when the temperatures plummeted in the Rio Grande Valley. Closer to home, growers sustained damage to most of what they were growing.

One substitution, however, was baffling and challenging. The store didn’t have the requested brand of cottage cheese, and it instead sent a five-pound container of sour cream.

Matos has selected a topic for each month’s session, with spring selections centered around spices. Patrons can pick up a sample packet of the month’s spice at the library, where cookbooks are available to check out.

Smaller get-togethers call for smaller king cakes, so making several individual-sized desserts based on the flavor, shape and colors of the traditional sweet circle more appropriate than ever this year.

Local diners are waking up to more choices than ever, as breakfast-focused restaurants move into the area. Morning-friendly chains like First Watch, Snooze, The Toasted Yolk and Eggcellence are expanding the county’s notions of what breakfast can be.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Jesse Tree and Universalist Unitarian Fellowship will host their 2021 Empty Bowl fundraiser virtually.

Sheetz has an enthusiastic following, much like Buc-ee’s does in Texas, though the stores are smaller, more numerous and focused on gas, food and convenience.

As always, many people started the new year with a resolve to eat better. Cutting back on sugar seems like one easy strategy, but a surprising number of packaged or prepared foods from barbecue to oatmeal are enhanced with sugar.

After the challenges and tribulations of 2020, it’s a good bet that more people will be sure to eat their black-eyed peas for luck on New Year’s Day.