ring out the old...

...ring in the new.

turning lemonade into lemons since 1983

I don't know if any of you watch New Girl, but I catch it as often as I can, and for primarily one reason: Nick Miller, played by the laugh riot known as Jake Johnson. The character is hilariously pessimistic, curmudgeonly, and cynical, and when given the chance to ad lib, Jake consistently delivers laugh after chortle after guffaw.

He (or the writers)(or some combination of those) is responsible for my title, and I have every intention of citing it often in my life.

all they're crackled up to be

Christmas seems to be associated with cookies as much as Thanksgiving is synonymous with pies. I don't know why this is the case, but my best guess is that a platter of cookies is much easier to give as a gift than a smushable, refrigeration-required pie.

oral-b from p&g

I love corn. I love it on the cob, in salads, in Mexican dishes, in the form of popcorn, and on it goes. What I don't love is when the kernels firmly lodge themselves between my teeth.

it's all about chemistry

As someone with pale, pale, bordering-on-albino porcelain skin, I'd like to believe that browner isn't always better...except when it comes to butter and a few other select edibles.*

*Just like with tanning, though, one can take it too far.

light as a feather, stiff as a board

I've put off making meringue cookies for far too long.

smell that?

Christmas is coming. I know this because the (cold, cold, cold) air is permeated with the scents of pine, peppermint, and baking spices. Food blogs are peppered with cookies (and sometimes, they're peppered with peppered nut cookies!)(isn't Pfeffernüsse a fun word?!).

Upon leaving a building, my nose promptly turns pink and simultaneously decides to run and stuff up. Plus, I can't even go to the grocery store without hearing "Santa Baby" (no...just no), "Christmas Shoes" (probably my absolute least favo[u]rite), or "Redneck 12 Days of Christmas" (which you may not have to suffer through if you don't live in the Land of Rednecks)(be thankful for that).*

$50 NOVICA gift card giveaway!

Hanukkah starts this weekend! Christmas is in less than three weeks! Have you gotten all your gifts? Are your decorations up?

I did a little holiday decorating this past weekend. My tree may be small, but I can fit all the gifts I've already purchased snugly beneath it...

puffed up

I've said it before, and I'll no doubt say it at least a hundred more times before my laptop becomes obsolete: Puff pastry is magical.

this post brought to you by the color orange

Orange vegetables tend to be extremely versatile, being just as useful as ingredients in savory recipes as in sweet ones. Pumpkin and carrots are obvious. For some reason, it takes a little bit more convincing when it comes to sweet potatoes, but they're probably my favorite. Another orange veggie that many don't consider as a delicious dessert ingredient is the butternut squash.