The art of soul food cooking – with its ill-defined recipes that consist of a “pinch” of this, a “dab” of that, and a “lil’ bit” of something else — is a craft best learned at the elbow of a professional. But if you’re not blessed with a cast-iron-pot-wielding, sweet-tea-stirring…

So you say you want to be a tennis star? You crave the glamorous life of roaming from the red clay of Roland-Garros to red carpets at chic nightclubs? You want to walk the green grass at Wimbledon too? Then why not try out the $10,000 Extreme Tennis Futures of…

After many years of research, you’ve convinced yourself that the bull-doggish bouncers manning the velvet ropes at Privé would never let you slink into the ubër-exclusive spot. With your own eyes, you’ve seen them leave half of the Miami Heat begging to enter, and you couldn’t make a layup if…

So you’ve had 11 days to execute your new year’s resolution of eating less. Considering you didn’t last for 11 hours in 2007, we salute you. But honestly, we think that goal was slightly ill considered. It shouldn’t have been “eat less”; it should’ve been “eat better.” And the great…

It was 1994 when the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding scandal showed the world that the seemingly lily-white sport of figure skating was really no safer than a night at Fight Club. And just a couple of months ago, Ingrid Marie Rivera, Miss Puerto Rico Universe, had to make a quick change…

In case you hadn’t heard, there’s a 39-acre park just south of Miami where you can find more than 500 types of fruits, herbs, spices, vegetables, and nuts from around the world. That’s right, the Redland Fruit & Spice Park is a veritable produce section — huge, amazing, and in…

For the past decade, your number one New Year’s resolution has been to get in shape, and you’ve spent entire Decembers culling piles of diet books and writing healthful grocery shopping lists. But by 12:01, that big glittery ball has dropped, Dick Clark has finished rockin’ your New Year’s Eve,…

You rave to your out-of-town friends about the abundance of nightspots here, claiming “your” haunts are the best in the world. But in your heart, you’re absolutely bored with your weekly routine and desperate for a different place to get drunk. For the first Saturday of the year, we say…

What does your dream home look like? Is it four walls of rent-free bliss? Does it have a tree outside each window that sprouts crisp $100 bills from its branches? Funny, we have the same dream. But HGTV is taking the “dream home” concept one step further and offering one…

Forget the cafeteria table snobbery; the social hierarchy in elementary school was really determined within the confines of gym class. Think about it — only the strong survived the pullups test, your cool factor was determined when (or if) you were picked for a team, and don’t even get us…

You’re well versed in the vodkas and gins of the bar, but absinthe is one highly potent brew that flies under the radar. Until now. Legend has it that if you take a sip of the fabled green-tinted elixir, your mind will journey to places your eyes haven’t seen. It’s…

You might think your CD collection is the best thing since string cheese, but after one Thursday night at Amendment XXI, you’ll be begging for a peek at DJ Andre Soul’s playlist. “What makes this party a banger is that the classics are played throughout the night,” says Soul’s manager,…

Your virgin eyes were opened to a new frontier of diversity after you heard Michael Jackson and friends croon, “We are the world, we are the children.” And ever since, you’ve allowed the various facets of American culture to infiltrate your dinner table, wardrobe, and language. This year you and…

While your liver braces itself for tomorrow’s drinking and carousing, how about you take it easy today and head to the Wallflower Gallery for the Art & Zen Fest? It costs nothing to surround yourself with good vibrations while you get your hands dirty with arts-and-crafts projects, find out how…

As of 9 a.m. December 31, you were 364 days sober. But by 10 p.m., you were doing keg stands like an out-of-control co-ed. Well, we say what happened in 2007 stays in 2007, so wipe that shame off of your face and climb back onto the wagon while simultaneously…

To your delight, the temperature has finally fallen below 70 degrees, and you’re happier than a gold digger at the Delano. Look at you, stripping the mothballs off your wool coat with glee, shining up those knee-high riding boots you copped on sale last year, and fluffing up that fur-lined…

If you thought that the palm trees were alive with the sound of music during the festival-heavy summer, let your ears in on a secret that Christmas carolers worldwide have known for years. The holidays are for singin’! And tonight you have two different ways to get your fix. The…

Politicians, celebrities, even your mom is telling you to “go green.” The pressure to be environmentally correct is stress-inducing. So what do you do? You sit back, roll one up, throw some Snoop Dogg in the CD player, and go green the Bob Marley way. But then Mom calls and…

The Nutcracker isn’t the only story about inanimate objects coming to life. The Steadfast Tin Soldier, which enraptured audiences and drew solid reviews from critics last year, is back. It describes a crippled soldier made out of tin who falls in love with a plastic ballerina. He meets a foe…

We screamed when Justin claimed to have brought the “SexyBack,” but after watching Chris Brown bring it at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, we gotta call ol’ JT “TimberFake.” Chris is the real deal. We’ve been following him since he promised us that he would “Run It,” and we…

Yeah, you’ve been sitting on your ass all day at work, but by the time the clock strikes 5, you’re in need of some serious R&R. It must be all of those trips to the vending machine, the MySpace page building, and the long hours gossiping on the phone. Sounds…

TV land is all abuzz about the writers’ strike, and avid couch potatoes — us included — have been losing their minds with all the reruns. And since it looks as if the strike has no end, and we’ve watched every DVD in our collection, we’ve taken to exploring other…