Christmas thoughtfulness IS friggin’ exhausting! After writing like crazy for the past three weeks to make sure all my commercials were done at work, I leaped into frantic home decorating mode, then shopping mode, then wrapping mode, then cookie mode, then elf delivery mode. And now with about 12 cookies left and people I still want to gift, this elf is beat! But I ended up baking with…
When I was young, my mom went through phases in her food. There was the red wine and onion phase, the hot dog phase, the chocolate chip phase and the peanut butter phase. Although the hot dog phase made for some interesting combos, like the hot dog pizza she made once, it wasn’t her most shining culinary moment. But her chocolate chip and peanut butter phases still fill…
Today, my friend Nicol Zanzarella (audiobook reader and actress extraordinaire) and I decided we needed to take our friend Debra Deyan, owner of Deyan Audio, out for a belated birthday lunch. Deyan Audio records audiobooks and has won so many Audie Awards (the audiobook equivalent of the Oscars) it’s almost unfair. Deb and Nicol are amazing, and two of the most driven, dedicated people I know, so getting…
I’ve been cooking for over a month, but haven’t perfected anything for a while. Sometimes cooking magic happens the first time I make something and I can blog about it right away. But usually, I make it and it’s not quite as amazing as I know it could be, so I have to make it again, then tweak it and make it again and again before I can…
My mother visited me last night. Well, maybe not physically, but she was definitely here, because I went back to being a 9-year-old tasting her homemade cannoli at Christmas time in our flour covered kitchen. But this time it was me making the cannoli. I am a very novice cannoli maker and was spurred into a cannoli frenzy because I promised my friend Debra I’d bring them to…
On this day back in 1974, my college friends and I decided we were sick of seeing lucky girls getting roses delivered to them willy-nilly, while we got nothing. So we held a Valentine’s Day Sleep-A-Thon. My friend and resident artist, Dawn created fabulous posters for our doors that said anyone could participate, in the VD Sleep-a- Thon. All you had to do was sleep through the day…
Groundhog Day is near and dear to my heart. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Pennsylvania where Punxatawney Phil was a pretty big deal. There’s another reason, which embarrasses my brothers when I talk about it, so you’ll just have to read my Groundhog Day blog post from two years ago where I explain it all. Be forewarned — it involves sex. Since there is no official…
I am finally getting my bearings after the shock of going back to being a full-time employee on November 3rd. I’m trying to get back on a weekly blogging schedule, and will do my best, but don’t hold your breath. However, I just had to write about this cheesecake because it’s worth every decadent calorie. I know I already laid claim to the best Carrot Cake ever. I’m…
My apartment can go from immaculate to disgusting in about 2.5 days. Having my Corgi, Topper in the house makes it all possible. Clumps of dog hair the size of tumbleweeds are rolling around as if it was the high desert. Newspapers are toppling over the basket where I usually have them neatly stacked. Dishes are piled in the kitchen and I am too stinking tired to do…
It’s been an uneventful week. I haven’t had any run ins with the law and haven’t even been scammed on my dating website. My only excitement was that my computer decided to stop working, so I couldn’t record this. With things this slow, there was nothing left to do but turn to food — chocolate and peanut butter to be exact.…