Lifestyles category, Page 59
Out & About: Westmoreland County prayer breakfast stresses core values
“Love, Listen, Learn and Lead” was the theme of the Westmoreland County Chamber Annual Prayer Breakfast, held Jan. 27 at Ferrante’s Lakeview in Hempfield. Those values were separately explored in a series of spiritual readings. “Love” was covered by Heather McLean, outreach coordinator for Mental Health America of Southwestern PA;...
Route to Super Bowl is long, dangerous for Mexican avocados
SANTA ANA ZIROSTO, Mexico — It is a long and sometimes dangerous journey for avocados destined for guacamole on tables and tailgates in the United States during the Super Bowl. It starts in villages like Santa Ana Zirosto, high in the misty, pine-clad mountains of the western Mexico state of...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County: Feb. 3-5
Limbs and rectangles “Fleshy Limb Filled Rectangles,” an exhibition by Kenneth Nicholson, will open Saturday at StopWatch Gallery & Studio, 323 S. Main St., Greensburg. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. The show features oil paintings and drawings of figures and portraits, which the artist says are “aggressively disassembled and...
YWCA Westmoreland opens Black History Month programs with art show
The YWCA Westmoreland County will begin its Black History Month programming Saturday, with the opening of an exhibit of work by Greensburg artist Pamela Cooper. The featured drawings, paintings and sculptures are a survey of her life as an artist and as a Black woman, Cooper said. “They reflect work...
Psychedelic churches in U.S. pushing boundaries of religion
HILDALE, Utah — The tea tasted bitter and earthy, but Lorenzo Gonzales drank it anyway. On that frigid night in remote Utah, he was hoping for a life-changing experience, which is how he found himself inside a tent with two dozen others waiting for the psychedelic brew known as ayahuasca...
Green comet makes closest approach to Earth in 50K years
The so-called green comet will make its closest approach to Earth in about 50,000 years late Wednesday/early Thursday, but whether you’ll see it in the skies above Western Pennsylvania is debatable. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have increasing cloudiness overnight,” said Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in...
Switching up salsas for the Super Bowl: 3 recipes with fruit
Certain foods are inextricably linked with game day parties: chicken wings, nachos, chili, guacamole … and salsa. Bowls and bowls of salsa. And while you can always pop open a jar, homemade salsa is extremely simple to make. The only skill it requires is a willingness to chop, mince and...
Mad Mex in Oakland closes because of staffing challenges, lease situation
Despite being surrounded by thousands of college students, Mad Mex in Oakland could not find enough employees to remain open. After nearly 30 years in business on the corner of Atwood and Bates Streets, the restaurant has closed. “I can’t tell you how many people have said to me, ‘There...
This is the ‘trendy’ Italian meat with 1,000 years of staying power
LOS ANGELES — Rounds of sliced-thin, pink, white-speckled mortadella are popping up on sandwiches, on charcuterie plates and even in the occasional cocktail in Los Angeles, but it’s hard to view any food item depicted in ancient Roman carvings as a flash in the pan. The Italian deli meat that...
It’s cookies and beer time for Nancy B’s and Allegheny City Brewing
Imagine tasting a sweet humungous Nancy B’s Bakery chocolate chip cookie in a brewed liquid form. That’s right. Nancy B’s Bakery of West Homestead has collaborated with Allegheny City Brewing in the North Side’s Deutschtown neighborhood for a dessert beer for a fourth year — only this time they are...
Pittsburgh’s Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor celebrates its 1923 founding
Here are two scoops. Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor in Pittsburgh’s Strip District is marking the 100th year of its founding. And it’s also no longer for sale. “Klavon’s is a piece of Pittsburgh history, and I feel like not enough people know about it,” said Desiree Hanchar, of Fox Chapel,...
10 things to know about cooking with plant-based meat
Thanks to improved taste and texture, it’s easier than ever to work alternative meat sources into meals. A decade ago, this would have been a very different story. Meat alternatives such as tofu and tempeh were centuries old; frozen “veggie burgers” and the earliest plant-based meats had been on the...
Weeknight paprika-cumin chicken evokes Moroccan grilling
In Morocco, djej mechoui simply means grilled chicken, but the aroma coming off it makes clear that it is so much more. Slathered in smen, or fermented butter, the bird is richly seasoned with a mixture of cilantro, parsley, paprika, cayenne and cumin before being cooked over glowing coals. The...
Lunch crowd slowly finding its way back to challenged Downtown restaurants
When Wiener World opened on Smithfield Street in Downtown Pittsburgh in 1965, the disc jockeys in KQV radio’s storefront studio a block away were only in their second year of playing Beatles records, Lyndon Johnson was president and the U.S. was still four years away from landing a man on...
Out & About: The Westmoreland’s Vintage Ball is good, old-fashioned fun
Sometimes you just want to have a little, old-fashioned fun. The Westmoreland Museum of American Art provided just the ticket, packing decades of enjoyment into one night at its Jan. 21 Vintage Ball. Everything old felt new again, as guests flocked to the sold-out soiree looking like they’d stepped out...
Greensburg Zion’s Evangelical Lutheran Church sewing group clothes girls in hope
Calling someone a “so-and-so” is not a compliment, but change the spelling to “Sew ’n Sew,” and the term takes on a new — and positive — meaning. It’s the name adopted by a group of women who meet monthly at Zion’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Greensburg. At home and...
Out & About: Fort Ligonier hosts local scoop on ‘Pale Blue Eye’ filming
About 150 guests heard the inside scoop about local filming of the Netflix historical thriller “The Pale Blue Eye” prior to a Jan. 19 screening at Fort Ligonier. The blacksmith shop at nearby Compass Inn Museum in Laughlintown was transformed into an 1830s tavern for a scene between actors Christian...
Out & About: Success stories shared at Westmoreland Community Action meeting
Two young men shared very different stories of success during the Westmoreland Community Action annual board meeting and luncheon. JT, 19, of Greensburg told how he received help in finding housing through WCA’s Transitional Age Living Program. He, his mother and two siblings became homeless on the day of his...
Out & About: Elements inspire Greensburg Art Center members’ work
Awards judge Lisa Rasmussen took an extra step to familiarize herself with the works submitted to “Earth Wind & Fire,” the new members exhibition at Greensburg Art Center. She supervised the placement of the 96 pieces on the gallery walls. Her picks were announced by center President Jerry Scorpion during...
All Saints Convent in Etna transformed into apartment living
The cross details and All Saints name remain on the front of the building, the beloved home to nuns for many years. But, as is protocol for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh when a religious building is being reposed, anything liturgical, including stained glass with symbols such as a chalice...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County: Jan. 27-29
Cards and collectibles The annual Joe’s Sports Card & Collectible Show returns to Westmoreland Mall this weekend. For more than a decade, the show has offered attendees the opportunity to buy, sell and trade cards, memorabilia, action figures, gaming products and other items. Vendors will be set up in the...
A fridge too far? Living sustainably in NYC by unplugging
NEW YORK — There are those for whom recycling and composting are not nearly enough, who have reduced their annual waste to almost zero, ditched their clothes dryer or given up flying, and are ready to take the next step in exploring the frontiers of sustainable living. For Manhattanite Joshua...
Elie Saab’s spring couture in Paris dreams of Thai escapeVideo
PARIS — Elie Saab whisked his guests away to Thailand for a Paris Fashion Week couture show Wednesday that gleamed with gold and intricate silk embroidery. Sheer diaphanous cloth floated around the runway in Le Marais’ Carreau du Temple amid wafting perfume, as “Emily in Paris” star Paul Forman and...
Jill Biden’s inaugural wear to go on display at Smithsonian
WASHINGTON — First ladies typically donate their inaugural ball gowns to the Smithsonian Institution for its collection. Jill Biden on Wednesday gave up two clothing ensembles, and neither one included a gown. The first lady parted with the ocean blue tweed dress and matching coat that she wore to her...
Pretty but toxic: Watch toddlers around these houseplants
When visiting friends or family who have both houseplants and young children, I’ve been compared to “Aunt Bonnie” from the Geico commercial “Aunt Infestation.” In it, a young couple who just moved into a new home complains of having pests — not ants but overbearing “aunts.” Like the one who...
