Neighborhood farmers markets are re-opening and welcoming back local producers—a very exciting time for those of us who enjoy the bounty of our bi-state area!

It’s been announced that the Fox Theatre will undergo a massive ceiling restoration—the biggest undertaking since its original 1981 restoration.

Known by some as the St. Louis spring event, Friends of St. Louis Children’s Hospital recently held its 10th annual Table Tops event at The Ritz-Carlton. 

With warmer days upon us and the return of the ruby-throated hummingbird, it’s time to start thinking about creating an outdoor space that is not only pleasing to our feathered friends, but to us, as well. Fortunately, it’s also time for the Webster Groves Herb Society’s 40th annual herb sale, which takes place Saturday, April 20, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Webster Groves. With more than 10,000 plants and 320 different varieties of both culinary and ornamental herbs, as well as heirloom vegetables, there is sure to be something for everyone, including our friend, the hummingbird.

We have more national recognition for our local culinary scene to report:

SweetArt Bake Shop in the Shaw neighborhood is a marriage of food and art. And that works out beautifully for owners Cbabi and Reine Bayoc, who happen to be husband and wife.

Fans of  CRUSHED RED URBAN BAKE & CHOP SHOP, which opened last year in Clayton, soon will have two new locations to get their fix: The eatery is scheduled to open its second space in May at 140 S. Kirkwood Road in Kirkwood; while a third location should bow at 313 N. Euclid Ave. in the CWE later this summer, if all goes according to plan.

When I was in elementary school, I distinctly remember earning ‘letter’ grades. In fact, I also remember the occasional—OK, frequent—parental lecture that went along with my C-quality work. To mom and dad, my ‘average’ marks signified that I was “not working to my fullest potential.”

DATE AND LOCATION CHANGED, CATERER ADDED FOR INAUGURAL ST. LOUIS THEATER CIRCLE AWARDS

Edgewild Restaurant & Winery opened in the fall of 2011 in Chesterfield, and soon developed quite a following in West County and beyond.

Alice McGee Coulter and Jonathan Robert Benner met in middle school, and their young love blossomed through the years. Jon popped the question at a party Alice planned to celebrate his graduation from business school, in front of all their friends and family.

If healthier eating is part of your plan for 2013, you’re likely to be more successful if you get the rest of your household on board. But preparing healthy, family-friendly meals can be challenging.

Across

Julie Elizabeth Meyers and Jason Andrew Shanker first said “I do” during the Sadie Hawkins dance at Camp Sabra in Rocky Mount, Mo., when Julie was 12 and Jason was 14. Unfortunately, as young love can be unpredictable, they went their separate ways after camp was over. But as fate would have it, the two reunited in their late teen years back at Camp Sabra, this time as camp counselors.

LN also gathered a group of professional counselors who shared their advice for families undergoing trauma and tragedy in their lives.

Ely Comerio Anderson was living in Baton Rouge, La., and visiting her parents in St. Louis when she met Edward Patrick 'Ted' Thurmond on a blind date. The two hit it off right away and ended up closing the restaurant down at 1:00 a.m. The two were engaged at the Saint Louis Club after what Ely jokingly describes as “a series of deceptions.”

Timing was just right for Lauren Paige Macheca and Michael Anthony Ambersley when they met at Bar Louie in Kirkwood through a mutual friend. They discovered that their paths had intertwined for years, but it wasn’t until that January night that they officially had their first conversation – which was the beginning of a whirlwind long-distance relationship as Mike began his professional soccer career in upstate New York.

In today’s economy, the success of a business is far from guaranteed. We honor local companies and institutions who are celebrating milestone anniversaries in 2012.

So many recipes are literally just a couple of clicks away. Want to make an Amaretto Cake? All it takes is a phone or any other mobile device to find variations with chocolate or vanilla, iced or drenched in syrup, layered or Bundt. With so many options at our fingertips, why use a cookbook at all? Answer: For a keepsake compilation resulting from an author’s ardent affection for the kitchen that is filled with anecdotes, wonderful inspiration and mouth-watering photography! Here are LN’s 2012 Cookbooks of the Year:

Franco in Soulard has announced that JOHN DREJA, late of Vin De Set, is the new executive chef, taking over for chef KRIS JANIK.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, darn it! And if you’re not bursting with joy at the prospect of all the decorating, baking, gift-buying, card-sending and party-going packed into the next couple of weeks, then there must be something wrong with you.