Happy Christmas!

Many of you are agonizing over what to give for Christmas. I am here for you, Honey! My Guide to Cookin' and Kissin' fits every stocking and every pocket book, and Lord knows, there's a need for it! Click on the link to the left to order with Paypal or send me an email for other arrangements.

It is also available on Kindle, so I sure would love it if somebody would drop me one of those in my stocking.

So Woodrow and I are in Philadelphia where there are a lot of Yankees. Only a couple of days ago we were in Mayberry (and Lowgap and Lambsburg), where he met some of my family for the first time. I thought it best to give him a break before heaping the whole group on him later this week. My sister, Bernise Denise, will be having as much of the family as can fit into her house on Friday night. You know what that means? Yes, someone is already cookin' up a mess of green beans!

We stopped by my Aunt Gladys's house and there was leftover cornbread on the counter. I had me a piece with just a little dab of butter . . . .oh my! I'm sorry, but you just don't walk into one of my friends' homes in Kansas and find REAL cornbread. . . . Of course if you did, I would be so big my hair wouldn't fit.

The Americana Christmas Show

The only pursuit equal to the sharing of good food is the sharing of good music. You all know I love me some good picking, so I am thrilled to be the emcee for the Americana Christmas Show this Saturday night at the Potwin Presbyterian Church. Show starts at 7:30. The church is located at 5th and Washburn here in Topeka, and has some of the loveliest stained glass windows you have ever seen. My banjo-picking preacher friend Sue Ann Seel is the pastor, so this is a church with some real soul.

Performers include: Ashley Davis, Celtic,; Racheal Black, Blues; Mojo National, Gypsy Jazz; Diane Gillenwater, Bluegrass; Jim Krause, Oldtime; and many more professional artists playing your favorite American Christmas music. Americana Teachers and students will also perform. This is a fundraiser for the Americana Student Scholarship Fund. The Americana Music Academy is a non-profit music school with locations in Topeka and Lawrence. There will also be an audience sing along with fiddle caroling and the renowned repeat of the Hallelujah Chorus played on Kazoos. For more information call my dear friend, Diane Gillenwater, at 785-249-8830.

On the same evening, Woodrow will be playing with Borderline at the Moose Club on North Kansas Avenue. Let me tell you, there are some dancers there! And do they ever decorate for the season!

Friday night, of course, is First Friday so Woodrow and I will be at the Art Walk, first at the Jayhawk Theater at 7th and Jackson, and then at Rusty Haggles in the NOTO Arts District. December is going to be a fun month!!!!

Apples -- A Reason to Celebrate

Flatfootin' to the beat of High Falutin' String Band -- Chris Frost, Tom O'Brien, Stuart Yoho. Preston Miller couldn't make it Sunday.

Greg Fox performed his original songs to the delight of the audience.

Puppies love Dixie Lee, too!

The Apple Festival at Old Prairie Town at Ward Meade Park was glorious. The weather was absolutely perfect. Our good friends, The High Falutin' String Band, Greg Fox, and Kyler Carpenter provided great music and Jim Two Crows of Independence, Missouri, told entertaining stories of Kansas history and western heros.

Congratulations to Erin F. who won a copy of Greg Fox's CD, "Counting Hills," and Dolores L. who won a copy of my Guide to Cookin' and Kissin'.

Viva Las Vegas!

Good-bye, Dave Johnson!

Hello, Las Vegas!

Dave Johnson has been with WIBW TV for a while now -- more than four years. He made folks in northeast Kansas eager to get out of bed in the mornning. Before the announcement was public, I was among the email recipients who got the news that Dave's last day was Thursday. Broke my heart!

I've joined Dave and Amanda and Drew, and sometimes Josh Mabry, many times. Always Dave was a gracious gentleman, and just plain fun.

He will be missed. I did not make it to Thursday's party because my services were needed in Winfield at the Walnut Valley Festival, but Monday's appearance with Dave and Stephanie Ramos was bittersweet knowing it would be our last together. While in Winfield, the question I was most often asked was, "Hey Dixie, where's Dave going?" (These people obviously do not tune in every day, but hey . . . .)

The upside of this transition, of course, is that Dixie Lee is lobbying to be his first guest in Vegas!

TV in Sin City will never be the same. Good-bye, Dave! Eat your veggies!!!

Even though I live in Kansas, lots of folks in Missouri love me. That's because folks in Missouri value fine cookin' and know a right smart about quality kissin.' So when my dear friend, Dan Hadley, invited me to Lone Jack, Woodrow and I loaded up the cast-iron skillet and headed out. It was Woodrow's idee to make French toast with bacon inside it or "Dixie Lee's Pig in a French Blanket."

This soldier boy, portrayed by Greg Higginbotham, who also portrays Frank James, "volunteered" to fry up the bacon since he has extensive experience with sow belly. At one point, he needed reinforcements, so John Mackie stepped up to the plate. Cole Younger (portrayed by Dave Bears) was our waitress, er, waiter, and made sure everyone in the audience sampled this tasty treat.

Dixie Lee will return to Lone Jack, thanks to Alinda, the boss, for the 150th anniversary where Frank James and Cole Younger will be her able assistants.

Doesn't Greg look nice in that see-through apron?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Celebrating on WIBW with Dave & Amanda in the morning. . . .then the Break Room in the evening. . . .tickets are $25 for dinner and a floor show....visit gourmetcabaret.com for tickets. . . then Hyvee at 29th & Wanamaker for booksigning on Saturday from 10-2! Thank Goodness, I'm not getting any older!!!!

Another St Patty's Day

Yes, those are green deviled eggs and they were delicious! March 16, I visited with Dave and Amanda on WIBW and we made dip and deviled eggs. Yes, those are my feather boas around their necks. Yes, that is a hat on top of my hair. Yes, in the picture below, Dixie Lee lets her hair down!

Yes, once again Woodrow cleaned up Carol Ann's red truck and she and I hopped in the pickup bed for a trip around town. The weather was glorious, the crowd was enthusiastic and green! St Patrick's Day is the best day of the year to be living in Topeka. After the parade (which was at least 2 hours long), Woodrow and I had a home full of food, musicians, laughter and love.

Life is very, very good.

Top photo: Woodrow Dean; Bottom Photo: Courtesy of our good friend, photographer and musician, Danl Blackwood.