No trip to my parents place in Indiana would be complete with out a plate full of bacon. I don’t mean a couple strips. I’m talking about a pile high platter! Even though we’re all quite healthy in our everyday lives, this treat comes fresh from the region and it’s too good to pass up.

The way to do it is, first choose thick cut bacon. Cook it slowly in a heavy skillet. Pour off the grease from time to time as you go. Turn the heat up at the end to crisp it and set it on paper towels to absorb the excess grease.

You won’t be winning any low cholesterol awards with this one but you will enjoy it!

If you want a more sophisticated lunchbox than a brown bag or a plastic “snack pack”, think about investing in an Indian lunch pale.

I first found out about these from my friend John Joseph. He studies yoga philosophy and, just like many of their spiritual beliefs, these food containers make a lot of sense. Made of stainless steel, it’s a three-tier container, designed to keep food dishes separated but hot. Since heat rises, they stack one upon another to keep all the food warm. Of course, you can wash and reuse it so there’s nothing to throw away. And, the best part is you don’t see them around that often, so you get to be the cool cat with hottest lunchbox on the block!

Rachael Ray was this year’s surprise winner over Ellen DeGeneres and veterans at The View in the talk-show category at the 35^th annual Daytime Emmy ceremony. Apparently this was a surprise not only to viewers but to Rachael herself.

“My life has been a total accident—a very happy, wonderful accident that I didn’t and couldn’t have planned,” Rachael says on her website.

At age forty, Rachael not only has a popular TV show but also a cookware line and is celebrated as a “cookbook queen”. All this from her philosophy that shows how “you do not have to be wealthy to live a rich life.”

I’m hoping I have surprise, accident life like that waiting for me!