Forty percent of moms will celebrate Mother’s Day by dining out this year, according to the National Restaurant Association. Others will be cooked for, waited on and showered with love. The rest — and you know who they are — will be in the kitchen making lunch and dinner for their families. Don’t let this happen to your mother (or wife). There are plenty of deals going on right now. Take that lady out.  

As women, we have many responsibilities. We must maintain a sunny disposition to put others at ease, keep our make-up fresh and stay up on current events so we can keep up with our husbands in conversation. And we’re also being asked to work outside the home. How are we to do all of this and still entertain?  

If I were about ready to die or, better yet, just leaving town for a bit, the following would be my ideal last meal in Cincinnati. First, I’d choose Mount Adams, because I live there and because its history of drunks and monks appeals to both sides of my nature.   

About 5,000 years ago, the great saints of India downloaded a complete dietary system that can help you lose weight without eating less, achieve balance and serenity and live a longer life. OK, it sounds like an Acai Berry ad, but it’s actually part of the oldest and most authoritative of Hindu texts, the Vedas.  

Gajah Wong West, a Little Indonesia in the middle of Northside, opened its doors three years ago and will close them at the end of this summer. Rumor has it that Gajah is another casualty of the recession, joining other supposed economic casualties like Pigall's, Kona Bistro, Edgecliff Bistro and Fresh, to name a few.   

Last week I had the pleasure of dining at Basilico Organic, the first USDA-certified organic restaurant in the Midwest. Everything that touches your lips is free of pesticides, antibiotics, preservatives and hormones.   

This month offers chocolate cappuccino Peeps cake with the Easter Bunny, vegetarian Gold Star for Lent and relaxed requirements for food stamps. What more could we ask for? Not all Easter brunches are created equal, but if you go to Mokka, Grand Finale, Greyhound Tavern or Orchids at Palm Court, you know you’ll get a good one.  

Before Barack Obama was elected, sustainable food advocates across the country were pushing for an organic White House garden, which seemed to some like a Marie Antoinette moment. A "let them eat organic" in the middle of a flailing economy when people were losing their jobs and couldn't put food on their tables.  

One look at Nick Tolbert's life and the cynical line you often hear, "You just can't get anything done in this city," fades away. In 2008, American Public Television affiliates approved Tolbert's 'The Midnight Gourmet' cooking show for programming.   

In food news, Restaurant Week, sponsored by The Greater Cincinnati Independents Group, will run March 16-22. Twenty-six restaurants will be part of the action, offering a three-course prix-fixe dinner menu for $26.09 per person.