WESTERN BRANCH Close your eyes and imagine a nice plate of chicken and dumplings. Can't you just smell it now? If you love country cooking, you'll want to eat at the new Cracker Barrel Old Country Store near Lowe's. The white rocking chairs are out front, just like they're supposed to be.

A first bite of brined bird is akin to taking that inaugural sip of quality coffee - nothing else will ever do.

Face it: Those cute little pumpkins that have been decorating the house since Halloween will be dated when the Thanksgiving dishes are done. So why not serve them instead?

Pumpkins make the perfect serving vessels for soups, side dishes and desserts. The following recipe combines many flavors of the season , and the bonus is that you don’t have to wash the dish when dinner is done.

By Judy Bander
Correspondent
CHURCHLAND
When you enter Nix Restaurant in Churchland there is a "Mayberry Mentality," meaning the staff and patrons are like family who care about each other.

He screams across the country, arriving in a red ragtop, hungry for food and the stories behind it. Guy Fieri and his television crew have been around here before, sampling the fare at Doumar's in Norfolk and Captain Chuck-a-Muck's in Rescue.

By Irene Bowers
Correspondent

Mannino’s Italian Bistro

The classic taste of southern Italian cooking awaits diners at Mannino’s Italian Bistro.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Alexander’s on the Bay, a Chic’s Beach staple for 25 years, partly collapsed into the Chesapeake Bay after high tide Thursday night. On Friday, owner Denice Shafiee and more than a half-dozen employees picked through what remained of the casual fine dining restaurant to see what could be saved.

By Phyllis Johnson
Correspondent
CHESAPEAKE
In many ways, people continuing to be more health conscious. As a reflection of that, Sage Organics has opened in the Taylor Road Shoppes, Chesapeake. Owned by Hank and Candace Elling, the store has a great selection of health food, vitamins and books on healthy living.

Originally posted Dec. 24, 2008
On Dec. 25, thoughts about food naturally turn to mince meat pies, eggnog, a turkey dinner - or, sometimes, Chinese food.
Chinese restaurants are among the few that are open on Christmas Day, and many are packed with patrons, especially non-Christians for whom the holiday is just another day.

So a man walks into a bar. He orders up a drink. The barkeep pours gin into a shaker, cracks an egg, drips in some vanilla extract and adds orange flower water, citruses, cream, sugar and soda.