For young children, few things can be as terrifying as being told they will be cut. And yet, when their bangs get too long and they start to look like Cousin It, that’s exactly what parents do — announce that it’s time to get a haircut.

Talk about a vegetable with a split personality. That would be green beans, a veggie that is as much uptown as it is down home.

After a visit to the region in 2000, I aimed to infuse Tuscan flavor into my residential lot in Alliance, Ohio. No, I did not surround my yard with a hand-stacked stone wall or rip up my lawn to plant an olive grove. But I did cut in more flowerbeds, expand my veggie and herb garden, and planted several dwarf fruit trees, including a wildly successful plum tree.

"How do you know when you have an antique? I found some jewelry that my husband's great-great-grandma had, and they are beautiful brooches. Are those considered antiques?"

Ming Tsai, Natick, Mass., resident and chef/owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Mass., has been in Beijing attending the Olympic Games, checking out the food scene and cooking. Traveling with is wife, Polly, and the chef de cuisine of Blue Ginger, Jon Taylor, Tsai, who is the host/executive producer of "Simply Ming," a cooking show on PBS, took a few moments this weekend to chat about his Olympic experience thus far.

This week, gardener Ruth S. Foster looks at the stone walls dotting the landscape of New England, discussing the history and construction of the walls.

Word of the Day, Web Site of the Day and Number to Know.

Watermelon is such a perfect food for a hot summer day that most people are content to eat it in its simplest form –- right off the rind or cut in chunks.

Drinking Rogue Brewery beer is almost like revisiting an old friend.

Word of the Day, Web Site of the Day and Number to Know.

The music starts to pound and 30 barbells rise into the air. Another Body Pump class is under way at Peak Sports Club and instructor Leslie Schaeffer starts the warmup phase of a workout that fills to capacity for 12 to 15 sessions a week.

Spc. Tia Leas is fighting her own private war in Iraq, but not the type you might think. Hers is the ongoing effort to stay in shape while deployed.

For me, the simple approach to grilling is the preferred method. The ingredients of chimichurri sauce: garlic, fresh cilantro, fresh parsley, olive oil, a dash of vinegar, salt and red wine vinegar, and a sprinkle of chilies may seem sublime but the effect on a steak can be ethereal.

Her binge eating had to get under control, or Danielson resident Donna Amoroso knew she would not live much longer. Weighing more than 400 pounds, Amoroso could barely walk — never mind exercise. The weight was taking its toll on her lungs and heart. The 56-year-old was hospitalized two and a half years ago for cellulite infections in her leg, and was on oxygen and Social Security disability.