It's that time of year again. It's time to start thinking about buying gifts, or what to bring to one of the many holiday parties you're invited to.

Jackie Bordewick calls herself a “tightwad.” “I grew up with no credit cards, no nothing. When I got married in 1965, we didn’t have money. I always looked for ways to save money, and now I do it automatically. I’ve been cheap all my life,” said the Springfield woman. This year, she skinned, chunked and froze tomatoes from her backyard garden, which yielded 38 bags.

Follow along as chef Mitzi Stinson creates a white bean and chicken chili dish.

I have written about daylight saving time before — so frequently, in fact, that I have written the sentence "I have written about daylight saving time before" before. I am thinking about writing it again, right now, because I am making a galvanizingly important point here, and also because if I keep writing it over and over I can get this column done quicker and return immediately to the couch, where I can continue immersing myself in the rich and rewarding world of the Ice Road Truckers.

Since retiring as a Methodist minister, Robert H. King has been a pimp, a judge and, well, God himself. And it’s all happened thanks to AgeQuake Theatre, a local acting troupe created specifically for senior citizens. It was the brainpower of 68-year-old Joan E. Kole, a lifelong actress who found there were fewer and fewer roles available for her as she aged.

Like many of its survivors, Deborah Breiter hopes there comes a day when no one has to hear their doctor say “You have breast cancer.” That she may have had a hand in bringing that day about excites the Rockford College professor of chemistry and biochemistry about a research project she started work on at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford during a 2006 sabbatical.

Too bad my kids got stuck with me as their mother. Not because I’m not a loving mom. Not because I don’t joke or snuggle on the rare weekend mornings when we don’t have to dash off someplace. Not because I don’t read to them, discuss current events, help them with their homework or watch movies with them while piled under a cozy blanket in the family room. It’s because I’m a lousy sports mom with a bad attitude.

When I'm at a liquor store, it's not unusual to see someone staring at shelf after shelf of craft beer, grab a couple, read the labels before putting them down and walking out with a 12-pack of Budweiser.

Costumed kids are going to be eating a lot of junk this week, so consider sneaking in a little nutrition with these mini-muffins made with oats, low-fat yogurt, raisins and pumpkin.

I contend that I’ve always looked forward to Halloween because of its dark overtones and celebration of fantasy. My mother says it’s because of the candy. She’s probably right.

Michele Hafner doesn't mind the graveyard in front of her house. The family of skeletons sitting at her dining room table may be a little strange, but they're easy enough to get along with. And who can't love the human-sized spider hanging from the roof?

This week, Mitzi Stinson shares a recipe for chicken lasagna roll-ups.

This week, Dr. Bernard Durante of Jordan Hospital discusses the medical advances made in tonsillectomy surgery.

The Hanged Man. The High Priestess. The Knight of Pentacles. In the season of Halloween — devoted to things mystical and enigmatic — these characters on tarot cards are rumored to be able to explain the unfathomable, make sense of the unknown and answer questions before they are asked.
 

Not so long ago, tattoos were distinctly counterculture. But these days, they are just as likely to grace a banker as a biker, a doctor as a rocker or even a housewife desperate for some body art.