Catering Confidential

Have your ambitious dinner party plans caught you in a time crunch? Is there a dish you love to eat but hate to make? Whether your guest list includes 30 or 300, here are six great go-to caterers in southwest Michigan and northwest Indiana: You can read all about them in my story in the November issue of Lake. (Though I'm sad, sad, sad that the editors snipped the two fabulous Kalamazoo caterers I had originally included in the story: Rose Street Market and Candace Strong.)

In other writing news, I neglected to mention many moons ago that I received a writing award from the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists early this fall. The award was for my story "The New Spiritual Scene," which appeared this past year in Columbus Monthly. I collaborated with photographer Tim Johnson on the photo essay, which examined new and emerging faith communities in central Ohio. The project led me to a "street church" for the homeless, a Somali mosque, an evangelical community housed in a movie theatre (popcorn included) and a Pentecostal revival. Our efforts for this story stretched over more than six months. It's one of the best stories I've ever worked on, so it's great to get some kudos for our hard work.