SHEFFIELD, Mass. — My mother always told me to shop smart.

"Don't buy 50 of the same thing, or 50 versions of the same thing and then complain that you've got nothing to wear."

Good advice, although I did notice the other day that she had several black cardigans and charcoal T-shirts in various styles, but, whatever, good advice.

My father, who rarely said much, ever, always shopped local — always. To this day, he rarely goes behind the borders of Great Barrington for anything, including food. In fact, in the summer, he'd much rather just grill a nice steak on a Saturday

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — There are two things you need, and I mean need like a baby needs its momma, to get through a winter like this one.

The first thing is a good pair of boots (for a recommendation on winter gear see my recent gear blog).

The second is a good sense of humor, a very good sense of humor. Maybe even a little sick, too. The kind of humor that, when someone asks you in a blinding snowstorm how you're doing, you just smile and say, "I'm freakin' great. It's downright balmy out here. Love this weather."

Then you trudge down the street headed for the nearest

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LEE, Mass. — Now that we are in the throes of winter, and now that our seventh or eighth storm is moving in for Wednesday, we can no longer live in denial. It is winter in New England and there's nothing you can do about it. 

But there are a few ways to make the rest of this endless snowpile tolerable. Perhaps the most important is to break down and invest in some proper winter gear. I mean hardcore Arctic stuff. This past weekend, I came to the realization that we might be buried until April and that I had suffered enough. By suffer, I mean cold feet, cold hands, cold body, just cold, cold, cold. All of this has been cured thanks to a trip to Ben's on Main Street.

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In case it wasn’t obvious, I am a caffeine addict (since I’ve given up on everything else). And lately, I’ve also become a salt junkie. Not just any kind of salt, however, but pink Himalayan salt. Sounds fancy, right? Well, it is. And we’re not talking little, boring white grains of supposed sea salt. Think giant 70-pound gleaming rocks of 250 million-year-old salt that has made its way through a historical and cultural web to my back stoop; Great Barrington.

Salt cups are perfect for serving margaritas and sorbet (with green peppercorns).

HimalaSalt, founded by dynamo and

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It's going to be an old-fashioned Christmas once again this year. By "old-fashioned," I mean very low tech, no $300 PSPs or DSIs or XBoxs under the tree this year. It'd be nice to surprise the kids with an iPhone each, but they'd be even more surprised by the lack of food on the table for the next several months after we wrapped up Christmas morning. So, back to the basics. And I know I'm not the only one doing this. Most of us have no choice but to continue to be frugal through a very indulgent season.

So, with that in mind, I went on a hunt for little things; special things that capture

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