My birthday is at the end of July – the perfect time for families to take their final vacation right before kids go back to school.  As a child, I developed a slight fear about my birthday because the RSVP “sorry, out of town!” was frequently heard. Choosing who was invited was a huge ordeal […]

When I was little, all of my friends would get their Christmas trees right after Thanksgiving. I would go spend the night and listen to Christmas carols and enjoy their fully decorated trees and then go home to my house that was in full Advent mode. Yes, we decorated for Advent, the season before Christmas. […]

Every year when the Girl Scouts start taking cookie orders, I have the same strange feeling of ecstasy mixed with dread. Do I want some Tagalongs? Duh…put me down for 8 boxes. Oh, make that…12. Little, innocent Girl Scouts, I know the truth. Just go ahead and call them what they are. Addicting-chocolate-peanut-butter-cookies-that-will-ensure-you-eat-each-box-in-a-single-sitting-so-you-gain-five-pounds. Yeah, I’m […]

I want to tell everyone that someone at Gourmet is a genius. Last year, they published The Gourmet Cookie Book, a compilation of the best cookie recipes they created each year from 1941 – 2009. Obviously I wanted it, Gourmet. Do you think I have the power to turn down a compilation of the best cookie […]

I’ve never been confident about baking. I remember being told early in life that baking was like chemistry and that terrifies me. I don’t like precise measurements or the thought that the slightest misstep could end in a giant explosion…or bad cookies. And let’s be honest here, biting into a scrumptious looking chocolate goodie to […]

My mom loves the cooking process as much as I do. She loves the precision of it even more. I think that’s why I was never taught to cook: the kitchen was her personal space.  Since I never wanted or needed to learn until I was living on my own, I was content to be […]