Dinner and a movie.
It’s not so simple if you’re going gourmet in a fight against time.

With Super Bowl Sunday just days away, we got to wondering: What if the championship was decided by flavor, not brawn? Imagine the New York Giants and the New England Patriots going head to head at the kitchen table with hometown eats from both sides.
Imagine no more.
Foodball, not football, was the scene Sunday when The Pilot hosted a Super Bowl XLVI Championship of Chow.

The neatly stacked plastic containers that cover the top of Marie Macpherson Gordon's refrigerator speak volumes about her generosity in the kitchen.
She uses them constantly to dish up leftovers for guests to take home.
"My enjoyment is feeding others," she says in her soft Scottish lilt.

VIRGiNIA BEACH
While walking his fields one day, Mike Cullipher noticed an expanse of earth that had gone quite lumpy.
The 2-acre tract near his now-dormant farm stand wore a crown of frilly foliage. That much, Cullipher and his father, Louis Cullipher, had expected.

CHEF'S CORNER
VIRGINIA BEACH
Family was a major ingredient for Tina McCarthy's development as a cook.
Growing up in Connecticut, she learned her way around the kitchen by helping her mother prepare meals for four younger sisters.
Later, her grandmother, Nanny, taught McCarthy the art of a slow-cooked pot roast and how to prepare a magnificent roast beef.

Last week, while thinking thankful thoughts, this ranked high on my list: friends who fish.
My gratitude peaks around the holidays when striper season hits and the phone rings and the message goes something like this: "Hey, we've caught some nice fish. Wanna come over and we'll cook it?"
That's a question?

For some, the leftovers are better than the Thanksgiving Day meal.
The possibilities for turkey leftovers are endless - from tarts, soups, salads and stir-fries to casseroles, chiles, pizza. Turkey pairs well with a variety of flavors, ingredients, and herbs and spices - including curry, basil, thyme, cumin, cilantro and fruits.

Welcome to turkey lab - four birds, a flock of testers and one tough question: Which bird is best for the Thanksgiving table?

A dark spot and a book changed their lives.
In January 2010, Linda Barrett noticed the dark spot on her husband’s face and asked him to see a dermatologist. The doctor found nothing wrong. The spot got bigger and Linda encouraged another visit. The diagnosis: cancerous melanoma.

Gnarly fingers with yellowing nails. Spider-infected witches' brew. A crimson-eyed meatloaf mummy. 
At the Halloween table, the nastier the better. 
Pre-trick or treating, my mom always plated up a heap of slippery "worms," aka lightly sauced spaghetti. Peeled grapes became eyeballs.