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Spouse is biting tongue over husband’s habit

DEAR ANNIE: My otherwise extremely well-mannered husband, “Ted,” has developed an unspeakably disgusting habit, and I need help addressing it. The backstory: About a year ago, there was an accident involving Ted, his brother and a couple of our nephews, which resulted in Ted losing five visible teeth. Our dentist removed the broken teeth and installed partial dentures. Ted has a very low pain tolerance and has had a difficult time adjusting to them. As a longtime denture wearer, I’ve told him that it takes time and that he needs to ask the dentist to adjust the partials if ...

Woman’s efforts to increase sodium levels cause frustration

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a 71-year-old female. I weigh about 96 pounds, and I’m 4 feet, 9 inches tall. My blood pressure has always been good. When I was 25 years old, I donated a kidney. I was told by doctors and nurses to drink lots of fluid to take care of my one remaining kidney. After watching what happened to my brother and the many patients in dialysis, I made sure to drink at least 16 cups of fluid a day, including coffee, tea and water. As far back as I can remember, my sodium levels have been between 126-129 mEq/mL. I have no symptoms, and my kidney function is good. I live ...

Bridge by Steve Becker

Point count can be used not only during the bidding, but also during the play. In this deal from a team match, point count proved to be very helpful. The contract was three notrump, and at both tables West led a spade. At the first table, East took the ace and returned the queen, which declarer ducked. A third spade was taken by the king, and the ten of diamonds was led and finessed. The finesse lost to the king, but since East had no more spades to lead and West had no entry card to cash his spades, South made three notrump. At the second table, the contract went down one after East ...

Make roasted carrots pop on an Easter table

Buying colorful carrots and adding spinach parsley pesto gives roast carrots a simple, lively upgrade on the Easter table. AP food writer Katie Workman suggests buying multicolored carrots, though straight orange ones also work. She says you slice them in half, coat them with olive oil, ...

Lovina shares memories of the move to Michigan

We will be extra busy cleaning and preparing to host communion services here in three weeks, so I decided to get an extra column written. It’s always nice to be a week ahead when my schedule looks full. I decided since it’s 22 years ago this month that Joe and I and our six children made the move to Michigan to make it our home, I would share some special memories from that time. MARCH 2004 Wednesday: We headed to Michigan early this morning with another load of hay. My sister Emma, Jacob and son Jacob Jr., along with Joe, son Benjamin and I started out at 6:30 a.m. and ...

Spice up your grilled leg of lamb

Ihsan Gurdal, the owner of Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts (a specialty food shop and the first place I worked after college), grew up in Turkey. He introduced me, and probably many other American cooks, to baharat, a Turkish spice blend that’s typically used as a seasoning for lamb. It’s what I use to season the leg of lamb in this recipe from my cookbook “Repertoire.” The blend varies depending on its maker, but it usually contains many of the spices Americans think of as “holiday baking spices,” including cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves, as well as ...