It’s here — our comprehensive food, wine and beer pages, and just in time for the holidays. Now you have all the Erie Times-News and GoErie.com food content in one place. Dining in? Check. Dining out? Check. Recipes? And how!

Plus we have all the news you can use on beer, wine and cocktails. You’ll also find videos on how to make our latest recipes! Blogs, newsletters and food reviews — it’s all here in one place. Click on the links below to take a look at our delicious food pages.

• This is where to get started! Food home page: http://www.goerie.com/food
• Look up our latest reviews of area bars and restaurants: http://www.goerie.com/food/reviews
• Hungry for lunch? Shop here! Check out the daily deals, and y’all come back — daily– because it changes all the time: http://www.goerie.com/food/downtown-lunch
• Marnie Mead, Jennie Geisler and Rhonda Schember are among our most famous chefs at the Erie Times-News. You’ll find their recipes and much more right here: http://www.goerie.com/recipes
• Would you like to share your own recipe? And join our cookie contest? Submit a recipe right here: http://www.goerie.com/recipes/submit

Enjoy our updated site, and visit often!

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom to three and step-grandmom to one.

I found these cute Volére wine boxes that look like purses  last night at the Wine and Spirits Store in Yorktown Center, 2501 W. 12th St.  Here’s the number: (814) 871 – 4721. This store is open from 9 a.m to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

They are apparently flying off the shelves.  I wrote about these in July when they first became available in the U.S.  This adorable purse-shaped box holds two bottles of wine.  It was on The View. Watch the video here. The wine is getting really good reviews, and it’s $12.99 to $14.99.

The store I went to had Volére purses in Pinot Grigio, Merlot/Pinot Noir, and Rosé. Volére Pinot Grigio has hints of apple and white pear. Volére Merlot/Pinot Noir boasts some berry, cherry and currant and vanilla flavors. Volére Rosé offers wild strawberry and raspberry.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeSty, Her Timesand House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom to three and step-grandmom to one.le

A cool purse o’wine caught my attention a few months ago — it was a wine box that looked like a purse. Today I found jute, leather and faux leather purses that hold a bottle of wine — a perfect hostess gift — and you can ship them into Pennsylvania without worrying about PLCB laws. These purses retail for $6.95 to $26.95 and are just too cute from Giftedgrape.com

Here’s the direct link to order the purses.

Here’s another link to Gala wine purses, featured in Oprah’s magazine — they start at $29.95. Of course they hold wine.

Here’s a link to a New York Daily News article that discusses the popularity of wine purses as a fashion item. Who knew?

Here’s a link to my blog on the purse o’wine that looks like a purse — a $12.99 to $14.99 purse with a spigot that dispenses the equivalent of two bottles of wine. It appeared on The View. Watch the video here. They are available from MW Imports and produced by Italy’s Cantina di Soav.

Wine in a purse — I’ll drink to that!

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom to three and step-grandmom to one.

While other issues are far more important, our Pennsylvania lawmakers again — it’s been seven years — failed to pass a law that permits direct shipments of wine to our homes.  The Philadelphia Inquirer reports — read it here.

Jane Earll introduced a bill that passed the state Senate in May. Curt Sonney sponsored a House bill that failed. Sonney promises to revive it in January.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

I missed National Martini Day this summer, but I have advance notice that August 30 is National Cabernet Day thanks to Wines that Rock, a group that has names like Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon Cabernet Sauvignon, The Police’s Synchronicity, Rolling Stones’s Forty Licks Merlot, Greatful Dead Red Wine Blend and Woodstock Chardonnay.

It is also on Facebook of course — right here.

If it seems like I am stuck on wines recently,(I wrote about wine last week as a good skin therapy — read the story here.) it’s because I am. Check out our wine issue of Lake Erie LifeStyle this Sunday in home-delivered copies of the Sunday Times-News.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

Last week, I blogged about Italian style wine in a purse.  Here’s a link on where to find it.

It is the latest thing in box o’wine. Looks like a purse with its own spigot. This adorable purse holds two bottles of wine. And you know it’s for real — it was on The View. Watch the video here. The wine is getting really good reviews, and it’s $12.99 to $14.99 a purse — now that’s a fashion-forward steal.

Here’s a demonstration of how it works.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

Italian style — wine in a purse. It is the latest thing in box o’wine. Looks like a purse with its own spigot. This adorable purse holds two bottles of wine. And you know it’s for real — it was on The View. Watch the video here. The wine is getting really good reviews, and it’s $12.99 to $14.99 a purse — now that’s a fashion-forward steal. I’m loving this purse as a novelty.

Imagine the possibilities. Here’s a demonstration where the taster says it’s pretty good wine. Volére purses up Pinot Grigio, Merlot/Pinot Noir, and Rosé. Volére Pinot Grigio has hints of apple and white pear. Volére Merlot/Pinot Noir boasts some berry, cherry and currant and vanilla flavors. Volére Rosé offers wild strawberry and raspberry .

According to the news release out of MW Imports, the wines are produced by Italy’s Cantina di Soav, which was recently named “Rising Star” by Beverage Dynamics for the second year. Consumer and retailer demand across the country has been overwhelming.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

There’s an old saying that men sweat and women glow. In 90-degree heat, when I play two hours of tennis, I don’t glow. I sweat.

We all know sweating is the body cooling itself off. If you are female, you may mist, glow or sweat at certain times of the month — or if you are as old as I am. Well, here are sweating solutions and things to watch out for.

Low iron levels. Years ago when I was running like a fiend and playing tennis — and sweating — I had bouts of dizziness, fatigue and difficulty breathing. After my doc tested for everything, he found my iron levels were just shy of normal, and he put me on an iron supplement. It worked. Now, before you run out and take an iron supplement — check with your doc. Too much iron in your system is dangerous.

On “The Doctors,” they offer solutions to embarrassing sweating during workouts. OB/GYN Dr. Lisa Masterson also explains night sweats and how to treat them. She also suggests that endocrine disorders, thyroid problems, hormone and pituitary imbalances can be to blame. Alternative therapies from webmd.com include soy, black cohosh, dong quai root, ginseng, kava, red clover, or DHEA.

No matter what problem you have, don’t stress about it. That will only make you sweat. Go talk to a doc.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

It’s appropriate food for thought, today.

There were years that I gave up chocolate for the 40 days of Lent. I even got my kids to do it with me a few times. After a few of those adventures, my family and co-workers (at several different companies over the decades), begged me to never give up chocolate again. I obliged.

I’ve also given up wine, beer and vodka. Not all within the same 40 days, mind you. All but one kid in the Eckert-Parker brood is over 21 now, and I am guessing I won’t get any company on a liquor-less Lent.

Chocolate and booze are optional sacrifices, but meat-free Fridays have been an almost lifelong habit. After all, meatless Fridays were a part of life when I grew up — not just Lent. We ate tuna casseroles, meatless pizza and fish sticks, fish sticks, fish sticks ever since I can remember. I maintained meatless Lenten Fridays raising my kids. When they got old enough to read the rules on Lenten sacrifices, they realized that they didn’t have to do the meatless thing until they were 14. I told them it was a tradition, and we weren’t breaking tradition.

I did draw the line at fish sticks though. I’ve permanently given up fish sticks, but McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish on Ash Wednesday and every Friday for the next month is all right with me. Last year was a beerless lent, and I think it’s time for a repeat — a time-honored tradition my parents started. One thing’s for sure. It won’t be a chocolate-free lent.