Today was the second annual “Jew Help A Christian Day”, i.e. the second consecutive Christmas Eve I’ve driven across town to spend a few hours helping my friend Jen get ready for her big family dinner. (Last year’s recap is HERE.) I had a BLAST, which is something I don’t normally say when I’m cleaning and cooking in my own house. Something to work on. Anyway, last week I asked Jen what was on the menu for this year and it came up in conversation that, among other things, she was going to have me remove seeds from a pomegranate. I was clueless about the task: to be honest, I’ve…
-
-
Sweet! Hand-Rolled, Melt-In-Your-Mouth Truffles
I haven’t done a lot of holiday baking in the past couple of years because whatever I bake, we eat. I know that’s the point but the combination of my tendency to go overboard (Go big or go home!) and our desire to not eat five hundred cookies and other sweets daily in December indicated that a cut-back was probably in order. One of the recipes I use that has always been a huge hit is my chocolate truffle recipe. Actually, it’s not “my” recipe: it comes from a book that was published in 1970. These truffles are so good that I didn’t even make them last year because see…
-
If Only Life Was Really A Beach. Or Something Like That.
I’m in San Diego for the weekend. (Yay!) Jim and I decided not to wait until January to take a quick trip out of town like we have for the past two years, and when we were discussing our December Destination, the only requirements were that it would be warmer than Chicago AND that we could use airline miles to get there. I thought of Southern California immediately because it’s truly one of my favorite places in the whole world. He really doesn’t like Los Angeles very much, so I suggested San Diego and he was all for it. It’s not lost on me, by the way, that I have…
-
Grand Theft Auto
See this guy? That’s my friend Fred, otherwise known all over the internet as Mocha Dad. (Totally famous, you guys.) Mocha Dad and I go way back. Well, in internet years, anyway. Even though he lives in Texas, I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with him on multiple occasions: at a couple of conferences, over breakfast when he was in Chicago for business a while back, and most recently, last month in Detroit at an immersion event with OnStar and a bunch of other awesome bloggers. While in Detroit, Mocha Dad and I did the following things: 1. Spent more time than the average driver/passenger combo in one of…
-
OnStar Immersion!
I have used lots of words on this here blog talking (err, writing) about how much I love OnStar and all of the technology that goes with it. It’s always a treat when I get to borrow a car from General Motors and have a week or so to press that little blue OnStar button for directions and other assistance. That’s why I was thrilled to be invited, with a group of other bloggers, to experience an OnStar Immersion Experience in Detroit last month. (Disclosure: OnStar provided my transportation, food, and accommodations for the weekend trip without requiring anything from me: I’m writing this post because I want to, and,…