Just got back from a trip to Durham, NC to visit my cousin and then take a side trip to NYC. Aside from seeing a couple Broadway shows and some amount of sightseeing, the main highlights of this trip were the wide and varied places we went to for good food ( Read more... )

Him: Why aren't you wearing your little nightie to greet me like the last time?

Penpal: I beg your pardon!?

Him: Last time I was here, you were wearing a small nightie.

Penpal: How could you possibly even remember that?

Him: I've got few perks with my job; I'll take what I can get.

Penpal: !!

I've had regular caramel, like the stuff Brach's makes and is sold at the local supermarket, but I haven't had anything homemade ( Read more... )

• 3T cocoa powder (unsweetened, Dutch-processed)
• 7T hot water
• 1 tsp instant espresso powder (or 2 tsp regular instant coffee)
• Half bar (250g) of Trader Joe’s Pound Plus dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 2C heavy cream

Clerk: What seems to be the problem ( Read more... )

During a power outage at a local electronics store, the sales staff had to write out receipts by hand. Alas, there was only one calculator for all the counters to share (which was silly, as this store SELLS cheap calculators ( Read more... )

Single-serve pies in a jar.

I was going to use ramekins, but these would be even better as they'll freeze better. I'm going to try converting the triple chocolate mousse cake into individual servings so I can avoid the whole slicing problem.

Plus it's so gosh darn cute and convenient to have pre-made goodies ready to heat at a moment's notice.

Here's a second quilt square I knit. I was stuck for days trying to figure out how to do the zigzag stripe. I don't know how to knit it directly in the pattern and wasn't sure if gluing a ribbon would work well. I tried duplicate stitching on the yarn and that failed miserably after only 4 stitches ( Read more... )

Happy orange tree -> lots of oranges -> tasty orange marmalade. That’s a pint-jar, for reference.


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Had a lovely chocolate mousse at a Greek restaurant in Toronto back in February, so I decided to try my hand at making my own. It's adapted from the middle layer of the triple chocolate mousse cake from America's Test Kitchen. I added espresso powder to give it a mocha flair ( Read more... )