Heavy rainfall three days ago melted the heaps of snow that had piled up against the boxwoods in front of the house. Once the clouds cleared, the sun appeared against a sky painted all lustrous, sheer blue—ice on the roof dripped in slow, languid trickles down the kitchen windows. The intervening days have been cold but sunny: they feel like spring, like I’m stepping outside into the words green and fresh.
Read moreSPICED FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
I still can’t shake the strangeness I’ve been feeling all week—nor do I think I should—and I can’t entirely separate myself from it at any point. But for the sake of breathing and being a positive, cheerful presence, I’m trying to parse through it in the back of my mind while I go about my days: taking a run, cleaning the kitchen floor, rolling out quiche crust, changing diapers, slicing avocado for sandwiches, talking to my sister, and so on. In lieu of trying to put into words here what you’re all already feeling (because really, do I need to join the chorus?), I’ll just say that this week’s email from On Being was quite good and helped to articulate some of my jumble of thoughts.
Read morePOWDERED SUGAR DOUGHNUT CAKE
The past four days in review: Two emergency plumber visits (and counting). Fifty kilometers of an ultramarathon run by one of us on Saturday morning, necessitating a tiny bit of hobbling about for a day or two, although shockingly little in the way of fanfare or recovery . (Do I need to clarify that it was not me, or is that painfully obvious? If you are not familiar with the term, “ultramarathon” doesn’t mean “a really awesome marathon”—although it should—but rather any running race longer than 26.2 miles. Some people even run ones as long as 100 miles, and yes, people are nuts. By way of further clarification, if it had been me who’d run 50K, you would know because I’d be broadcasting my accomplishment widely and casually dropping into every possible conversation. “Oh, you need me to copyedit something on page 250 by Tuesday? Sorry, I was distracted by the number 50 which totally reminds me of all of the kilometers I ran this weekend. In my ultramarathon. The one I did. With my own two legs.”)
Read moreSWEET POTATO RYE BUNDT CAKE
The words “wind advisory” showed up in bold, angry red letters at the top of my weather app yesterday evening—the fine print below warned against small crafts on the water and recommended securing loose objects and driving with caution. Around sunset, a rainstorm whipped through the trees in minutes, soaking everything with fat droplets and turning the sky a brooding charcoal. But I glanced out the back window and noticed the syrupy golden glow of the setting sun seeping through a few spots where the clouds had parted.
Read moreMINI CHOCOLATE MARCONA ALMOND WHOOPIE PIES
Could I chart my life in chocolate? Probably. You could too, I’m guessing.
Second grade: Sifting through the shiny pile of miniature candy bars I’ve spilled out onto the carpet after a few hours of trick-or-treating in the frigid October air. The nubby multicolored rag carpet is soft under my knees and there’s a fire blazing cozily in the living room where all the parents sit together. My sisters and I are engaged in fierce, sugar-fueled negotiations with the other kids—three Mounds bar for one Twix; two Kit Kats for two Crunch bars; five Almond Joys and two Butterfingers and a box of Milk Duds for a single king-sized Snickers.
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