Atlantic Canada wasn't forecast to get the snowpocalypse that was supposed to hit the eastern US (I have the impression it wasn't as bad down there as expected either, at least not universally) but we were still supposed to get blizzard conditions that would make driving dangerous, so there were mass closures. My university sent out a text ( Read more... )

The baking is all very well, but I've been watching Masterchef this season and yeah, I can't even imagine making up some of the dishes those folks do. I've learned that I am highly suggestible, too-- the time the contestants had to make spring rolls, I craved them for days. And don't even talk to me about the stuffed pasta the following week ( Read more... )

So I did make pop-tarts over the weekend-- about half of the dozen came out looking pretty good, some were hideous (I didn't do a great job laying them out on the pastry and some suffered for it) and a couple looked kind of messy but acceptable ( Read more... )

Aside from collective bargaining, the most interesting thing I accomplished this summer was, I finally learned to make pie ( Read more... )

I was the only guest at my parents' place for Thanksgiving over the weekend, so instead of turkey we had ham. I've been wanting to try cooking a ham (I do great pork roast, not-great regular roast beef, great pot roast) but they are SO BIG and I hate to invite people over and then experiment on them ( Read more... )

So over the weekend I dropped in at Old Navy again, to see if they had the winter-weight cargoes I like in stock. They didn't, so I tried a couple of other similar pairs on, to establish what size I should order online ( Read more... )

Okay, so last winter I overhauled my diet. Specifically, finally alarmed by all those ads from the Heart & Stroke Foundation, I introduced vast amounts of vegetation to my diet. The had the side effect of forcing out vast amounts of other crap I should not eat anyway. I make up for the lost crap by eating out occasionally and telling myself, "Oh, ( Read more... )

No, seriously.

A coworker is doing the Dukan Diet, which actually concerns me a little but I assume she's got enough sense not to work herself into some of the more alarming side effects. In the course of looking for info on the diet just because I was, frankly, dubious, I kept running across the info that eating protein keeps you fuller longer ( Read more... )

It's occurred to me that I am not exactly on a diet: I'm just trying to make a point of eating the Food Guide requirement for fruits and vegetables, in the form of food and not juice if possible, at least five days a week ( Read more... )

People who develop ads for television must have a helluva job, trying to come up with ads that are "sticky" and memorable, but not in a way that makes people change the channel on them. And developing a theme around a product must be a mixed blessing: I've read in several sources that advertising executives who work with Pillsbury have been trying ( Read more... )