Should she provide care to terminally ill, abusive ex?
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: My ex-husband and I have been ...
See all in Ask CarolynColumnists
Cheers
No more for us. We’re good
In Greece, it’s considered impolite to let your party guest stand around with a nearly ...
See all in CheersGone Shopping
Handmade for the home
Main Street Ellsworth has a new boutique focused on handmade items. Sunshine & Dixie, at ...
See all in Gone ShoppingKitchen Garden
Grow and store your own dried beans
It’s a cook’s nightmare. The table is set, hungry diners hover, and the beans still ...
See all in Kitchen GardenMaine Dish
Mac and cheese goes upscale
Our daughter Emily and son-in-law Kent are hosting their first holiday party in their new ...
See all in Maine DishMore from our Columnists
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Second-guessing the rules of casual sex in the online age
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: Meet a guy online, engage in light “sexting,” maybe even meet and have sex. Neither of us is interested in anything serious and we establish that at the beginning. I lose interest — just not feeling the connection — so the next time he contacts me, …
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Dealing with difficult in-laws
Dear Carolyn: I haven’t spoken to my husband’s parents since a week after our wedding. Several things happened that caused increasing tension, including: my mother-in-law blowing up at me when I articulated concern about a racially insensitive comment (I made several olive-branch attempts to reason with her on the importance of my speaking up); my …
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Lemon poppy seed muffins enliven breakfast
My Meyer lemon tree is in full regalia, with star-shaped white blossoms filling the house with a sweet, heady fragrance. Since moving my plant inside for the winter, the five lemons on the tree have turned from pale green to quite yellow and ripe — a good time to harvest. The Meyer lemon is a …
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Taking the high road with partner’s child
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: We’re going to see my partner’s family, including her 25-year-old child, who has acted like a sullen brat since we married 10 years ago. As in, has not spoken to me or acknowledged me in any way and treated my partner poorly as well. Generally I …
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The colder it gets, the sweeter they taste
Summer may be the sweet season, as strawberries, melons and peaches appear in a delicious progression of ripeness. But the sweet tastes of winter are treasured too. After the first frosts, something magical happens to the vegetables that remain in the garden. It’s quite different from the sugar buildup in summer fruits, designed to entice …
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Should we stay where we have family or move?
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Hello, Carolyn: My husband and I are at a crossroads, trying to decide between staying in our current city, near his family and where we have established friends, or moving back to where I am from originally. We would be closer to my parents and in a (hopefully) better …
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An autumn comfort dish
I love winter squash; moist, rich and hearty, packed with vitamins, fiber and antioxidants. Native to the Americas for over 7,000 years, winter squashes and pumpkins were an unknown vegetable to the early European explorers, who mistook them for a variety of melon. Fortunately for us, squashes were adapted readily by the first New England …