An elections expert who reviewed the 2007 Holyrood voting shambles says a two question independence referendum would “muddy the waters”.

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Expert backs one question ballot

Seafood counters used to be simpler places, where a fish was labeled with its name and price. Nowadays, it carries more information than a used-car listing. Where did it swim? Was it farm-raised ? Was it ever frozen? How much harm was done to the ocean by fishing it? Read full article > >

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Some question whether sustainable seafood delivers on its promise

It seems smart-alecky to call someone a “darling of the literati,” implying, as it does, that she’s no more than the flavor of the month, but certainly Anne Enright fits the first description. In her 40s, she’s published nine books, one of which, “ The Gathering ,” received the Man Booker Prize in 2007. Given her prominence, an American publisher has thought to bring her 2004 memoir to the United States. It’s a story based on that most traditional, tried-and-true material: having, or “making,” babies. Read full article > >

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Anne Enright’s ‘Making Babies’: At times pleasing, at times troubling

Decades ago, homemakers relied on a man in a tidy apron and a necktie to provide the perfect cut of meat for Sunday dinner and a stop at the local butcher shop was part of the regular shopping routine. Over time, grocery stores started offering a similarly packaged cuts and it was the friendly neighborhood meat man who was being cut out. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, year after year, the number of grocery store butchers has grown steadily while the number of specialty store butchers has struggled to add numbers. Last year, there were more than 94,000 butchers working in grocery store chains. Comparatively, specialty store butchers only accounted for 13,500 jobs that year, but that’s up significantly from 2008, when the economy tanked. Since the economic crisis, specialty store butchers have grown in number at a higher rate than their chain store counterparts. And that’s not including self-employed butchers. As the economy started to nosedive, people started looking for simple ways to save. Home vegetable gardens and farmers markets became as popular as skinny jeans, and more people entertained friends at home indead of hosting lavish dinners at restaurants. Folks started paying attention to the amount of money they were shelling out for services and slowly, some small, customer-service oriented stores (like florists, bakeries and butchers) made a comeback of their own. Some consumers felt they could get a sweeter deal or better quality from a craftsman than from a big chain store. Others liked the idea of supporting a small local business. Whatever the root cause, boutique butcher shops saw an increase in demand. There are 2500 more specialty store butchers now than there were 5 years ago. By percentage, that’s a huge difference. The New York Butcher Shoppe in the Midtown neighborhood of Atlanta is benefiting from that very trend. Located in an upscale neighborhood strip mall across the street from Piedmont Park, the store has been successful in the few short months it’s been open. It’s a chain store operated by a franchise in the Southeast. “I hate the word chain,” co-owner Greg Wheat said while waiting on his brother-in-law Rick Wolfe. Along with Wheat's brother Rob, the three of them opened this location at the beginning of the year. Business is good. “It’s a chain, but it’s great quality,” Wheat added. The original New York Butcher Shoppe is in Charleston, South Carolina, owned and operated by Bill D’Elia, a Brooklyn native. D’Elia semi-retired to the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Charleston 17 years ago and opened the New York Butcher Shoppe with his son four years later. The antiquated spelling was the younger Billy’s idea. D’Elia got his start in the meat industry at 9 years old, when he was a bicycle delivery boy. In 1976 he opened his first shop. “I love taking care of customers” he said in his distinctly New York accent, “[I like] explaining to them how to use the cuts of meat, how to cook it.” D’Elia sold the franchising rights in 2007, and now there are 12 units in five states across the Southeast. Franchise manager Jim Tindal finds that the ideal candidate for a new store has a culinary background with restaurant experience, is firmly entrenched in their community, and has a base to grow from. “We’re looking for smart business people,” he added. The franchisees are given up to four weeks of training in North Carolina, where they learn how to cut meat and run the shop. They get additional support and on-the-job training in the first few weeks after opening. As self-described “big time neighborhood folks,” Wolfe and the Wheat brothers thought a New York Butcher Shoppe would be a great fit for the area. They carry USDA prime and choice cuts and make all of their prepared foods themselves. “I really love what I do, I love preparing food,” Rick said. “It’s very customer oriented, it’s a fun environment and we have a lot of repeat customers,” some of whom he now considers friends. Geoff Irwin of Shields Meat Market across town can relate. “I have more friends than customers. I’ve watched children grow up, their children are now buying meat from me.” His shop looks pretty similar to the New York Shoppe; both are set up similarly, carry items to make a full meal as well as a decent wine selection, and sell fresh cuts of meat. The difference is that Irwin has been cutting meat for more than 30 years and his store has been in operation for 65 years. Shields is a smaller store, located almost inside a CVS drugstore in a smaller neighborhood. It moved to its current location 35 years ago after a grocery store there went out of business. Part of the deal to counter the loss of fresh produce was that Shields would carry as much as they could to make up the difference. Like Bill D’Elia, Irwin got his start in New York as a stock boy in a grocery store. He was offered a position to learn how to cut meat. In those days you were a journeyman for five to seven years and wouldn’t cut a T-bone until after that. He was trained under the watchful eye of Carl Fassett who’d gotten a similar start in the business and worked his way up. Irwin bought Shields Market in Atlanta at 23 and put his talents to work. “I was a good cutter, I have a knack for it. Knew it was hard work, but knew I wanted my own store,” he said, standing over a case of rib eye steak. “I cut for quality, not profit. Chains are working on volume, pushing it out as much as they can. I just buy the best I can buy and put a fair price on it. High volume isn’t my gain, it’s quality and taking care of people. Taste tells.” To him, the difference between Shields and a boutique shop is in the cutting. “That’s where the art has changed. Most cutters today wouldn’t know what to do with a hanging cut of beef.” He knows that there’s enough room in the market for both types of shops, but hopes that his loyal customers remember his experience when picking a place to get their steaks. “Anything you buy from me is going to be different from anywhere else. I love keeping this whole butcher shop open. Very proud I was able to do that.” And despite the tough economy, Irwin has a positive outlook. “You’ll always have a job, you just might not be a millionaire.” He tends to tear up when he talks about his mentor Carl, “He’d be proud. I don’t have to make the money, it’s very gratifying to hear people brag on you. That’s what keeps it going. I wanted to hold my own.” Take Our Poll

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The butcher is back

Graham Swift’s previous novel, “Tomorrow” (2007), was such a fiasco that a grim kind of suspense built up around his new book. Would “ Wish You Were Here ” inspire another round of jeering on both sides of the Atlantic? Read full article > >

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Book review: Graham Swift’s “Wish You Were Here,” reviewed by Ron Charles

Even now, he won’t go back inside. Kevin Sterne hasn’t reentered Norris Hall since four police officers rushed his limp body out of the blood-soaked building in the chaos of April 16, 2007 — a horrifying moment captured in a photograph that became a defining image of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Read full article > >

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A massacre’s survivors: Recovery and resilience at Va. Tech

Foreclosure filings fell during the first quarter of 2012 to their lowest levels since the housing market began its collapse nearly five years ago, according to new data from the firm RealtyTrac . The number of foreclosures during the first three months of this year was the lowest quarterly total since the final quarter of 2007. The numbers show that, in March, foreclosures were filed on just fewer than 199,000 properties, a 17 percent decrease from a year earlier and the first time the monthly total has dipped below 200,000 since July 2007. Read full article > >

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Foreclosures reach lowest quarterly level since late 2007, RealtyTrac data show

NEW YORK — Tuesday night, under a starless sky at Citi Field, Ross Detwiler pitched exactly how the Washington Nationals envisioned he would in 2007, when they drafted a beanpole left-hander out of Missouri State with the sixth pick. Five years later and one week after the Nationals made him part of their rotation to start the season , Detwiler had arrived. Read full article > >

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Nationals vs. Mets: Ross Detwiler helps hand New York its first loss

Click to watch video French gastronomy is a male-dominated world, and its centuries-old traditions are fiercely protected. So, although Anne-Sophie Pic is the daughter and granddaughter of Michelin-starred chefs, it was not always clear she would continue the family tradition. But in 2007, with no formal training, Pic became the only female chef in France (and only the fourth woman in history) to earn the culinary world's top honor – a three-Michelin-star rating – for her family's restaurant, La Maison Pic, in the Rhone-Alpes town of Valence. While in 2011, she was voted World's Best Female Chef as part of the World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards . Read the full story:  'World's best' female chef shares recipe for success

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‘World’s best’ female chef mulls on family and femininity

When Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) brokered a compromise on slots in 2007, he cast it as a way to move beyond a divisive issue that had paralyzed Annapolis for years. The debate clearly hasn’t ended. Read full article > >

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Gambling again at forefront even as Maryland General Assembly session winds down

Elizabeth Gordon is the author of 'The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook and Allergy-Free Desserts'. She was diagnosed with multiple food allergies in 2007 after the birth of her first child and decided to combine her social work background with her love of the culinary arts to help people just like her. She cooks up new treats, weekly, on her blog allergyfreedelights.com The United States is home to 9 million adults and 6 million children coping with food allergies ranging from annoying rashes to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Millions of other families are taking note of government-funded initiatives like Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move project and reaching for less processed and more natural fare. While healthy and safe eating is the common denominator between these groups, there is likely another: sticker shock when the checkout person hands over the grocery receipt. When I was diagnosed with allergies to wheat, eggs, string beans and figs in 2004, I wrongly assumed that my food bills would plummet, largely because it felt as though most of the foods that I enjoyed had just been eliminated from my diet. Venturing into the supermarket after that fateful doctor’s visit, I felt relieved that I finally knew why I was covered in a rash and that by simply choosing rice over rotini, I might be able to eliminate the itching that had plagued me since my daughter was born six months before. I was more than surprised when the cart, loaded with produce, a package of gluten-free flour , some gluten, dairy, soy, nut and egg-free chocolate chips and gluten-free snacks like pretzels came out to be almost three times what I previously budgeted for groceries. I thought that there was a mistake. There wasn’t, but even seven years later, I still can’t believe the amount of money that we spend on food. Granted, there are four of us, we live in New York City where the cost of living is higher, and specialty items that are both safe for me to eat and that my children enjoy are simply more expensive. However, I know that I am not alone. I took an informal survey of my Facebook fans, and of the roughly 50 responses, only one person said that her food bill hadn’t tripled as a result of her child’s severe food allergies. One food allergic family even added that they factored their food budget into their mortgage refinancing as a medical hardship. Whether coping with life-threatening food allergies or just buying more mindfully, families know that eliminating any or all of the top eight allergens (dairy, wheat , eggs, soy, fish, tree nuts, peanuts and shellfish) from their diets can get pricey. Here are five practical ways to reduce the weekly expenses: Opt for beans and rice over pasta Rice is always inexpensive and so are hominy, beans (like kidney or black beans), spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes. Gluten-free pastas and cereals are not. Reach for canned or dried legumes or starchy vegetables, which generally have more nutritional value anyway, and save the rice pasta and cold cereal for special treats. Make your own Cooking your own meals, snacks and treats instead of relying on pre-packaged fare will drastically reduce the allergic family’s food bill. It also ensures food safety. Cooking doesn’t have to be a five-course meal every night. Simple steps like making your own gluten-free flour mix for baking or making chicken stock at home really add up to savings. Invest in a slow cooker If you eat meat, the slow cooker turns inexpensive cuts like brisket or chicken thighs tender and moist, and it saves time because it can be left alone all day to have dinner on the table when you get home from work. If you live a vegetarian lifestyle, the slow cooker can be a great way to cook up hearty soups, stews and even big batches of gluten-free, steel-cut oats for breakfast. Eat seasonally The laws of supply and demand apply here. When fruits and vegetables are abundant, they are less expensive. Roast up some root vegetables in the fall. Load up on berries in the summer. Choose citrus in the winter to save. Don’t be afraid to freeze If you can’t live without blueberries in February or your kids want some corn come December, don’t hesitate to look in the freezer section. Better still, load up your own freezer with fresh fruit when it’s in season to eat later in the year. Evidence suggests that frozen fruits and vegetables are just as nutritious, and they can be cheaper, too. Don’t stop at just frozen produce! Freeze leftover herbs to avoid waste. Freeze coconut milk kefir in ice cube trays if you only use a little bit for baking. Stash the meat that was on sale at the market in the freezer for up to three months. Just these little steps reduce waste and expenditures in the supermarket. Safe and healthy eating does come at a price. Fortunately, simple steps can reduce it, because as every family, whether allergic or not, knows, every penny counts. Previously – Being gluten-free and well-fed and Living with peanut allergies

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Allergy-friendly grocery shopping without breaking the bank

A combination of cheap financing, popular new models and rising consumer confidence is stoking pent-up demand and drawing customers back to the nation’s auto showrooms. New-vehicle sales have surged at the start of 2012, outpacing forecasts and putting the nation’s automobile industry on track for its best year since 2007. Read full article > >

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New-car sales surge in early 2012

Anne Lamott was not ready to be a grandmother. “I was a young fifty-five,” she writes at the beginning of “ Some Assembly Required ,” the follow-up to her best-selling memoir “ Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year ” (1993). “Maybe a medium fifty-five. Let’s say a ripe fifty-five, with a child just one year past his majority.” Read full article > >

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Anne Lamott with Sam Lamott’s ‘Some Assembly Required’: Grandma’s first year

Anne Lamott was not ready to be a grandmother. “I was a young fifty-five,” she writes at the beginning of “ Some Assembly Required ,” the follow-up to her best-selling memoir “ Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year ” (1993). “Maybe a medium fifty-five. Let’s say a ripe fifty-five, with a child just one year past his majority.” Read full article > >

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Anne Lamott with Sam Lamott’s ‘Some Assembly Required’: Grandma’s first year

When Warner Bros. released the first photograph of the new Superman, the studio clearly wanted to spark some advance fanboy and fangirl chatter. Super-advance. The picture of actor Henry Cavill , muscles rippling beneath his heroic pseudo-leotard, was unveiled online last August. But the movie in which he’ll wear that familiar ensemble, “Man of Steel,” won’t arrive in theaters until June 2013. That’s right — June 2013 . If the Mayans were even half-right about this whole doomsday thing, we’ll all be dead before then. (On the plus side, at least we’ll meet our maker knowing how Cavill looks in a cape.) Read full article > >

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“Hunger Games” and the great Hollywood hype machine