It is the turn of the century.  A country in turmoil, heart-wrenching goodbyes, a struggling journey over watery prairies, and a young girl coming of age— who knew there would be a vivid story among tropical flowers and the promise of a different world?  Join Manuela Silvan Trascasas for an adventure that has been shared by Spanish immigrants over the century and smile with her as you visualize her painstaking trek from her family’s past to our present and their adventures between its pages. They left everything they knew — sometimes even everyone they loved — to start a new life …

Goodbye Balloon is a story about a boy, his dog and his balloon.  It is a children’s story beautifully enhanced by the illustrations drawn by the 2nd graders at Matthew Whaley School in Williamsburg, Virginia.  They listened to the story, they mentally ‘saw’ the story unfold and drew with their imagination. Ricky thinks he has everything he needs to live a happy life..a dog and a family who loves him.  As his fifth birthday dawns, he cannot imagine the adventures that will fill his day nor the important lessons he will learn.

Cooking Drunk is a cookbook containing recipes that utilize wine or other forms of alcohol. Do remember that alcohol dissipates during the cooking process, but retains valued flavors. So, please join me as I use various types of wines for a blending of ingredients by threading wine in and around them. In my attempt to complement each of these recipes by dribbling wines in a dish or listing a type of wine to drink or serve, will be a lesson in futility if wine is not part of your cooking habit. Otherwise, hopefully, after trying some of these recipes, you …