The Chewy

If you don't know who Alton Brown is, then shame on you. He is the creator of the greatest chocolate chip cookie recipe known to mankind. Stop what your doing, print that recipe, make a batch of cookies, and enjoy. If nothing else turns out quite right this holiday season, everyone will always remember the cookies. You can even take credit for the recipe (I won't tell, just send me a few).

Uh-Oh Mop

Our 6 month old O-Mop from Method broke over the weekend, the handle cracked off. We do love the mop so, I was resigned to just buying a new one. Then Sue (ever the source of wisdom) suggested that I email Method and explain the situation to them. Well color me surprised, because an actual person emailed me back with an apology and an offer to send me out a replacement at no charge. They even included a phone number where I could call them directly and talk to a live person! So, thank you Felicia in San Francisco, and Method for providing truly excellent customer service. Next time you find yourself looking at those duster cloths in the store, consider the Method brand, they're corn based so they biodegrade and are compostable (that other brand that starts with an 'S' uses petroleum products!).  Oh, and if you need a mop, the O-Mop is a great choice. I'm sure our replacement will be just fine.

The Nutcracker Suite

"Do we still have those peanuts?" It seemed like a reasonable question and a relatively healthy snack for a six year old so, I was more than happy to retrieve them from the pantry. Then I noticed the nutcracker sitting in the middle of the family room floor. One of those toy soldier, holiday numbers which, I'm fairly certain,  was never intended to actually crack nuts. Try explaining to a child that just because it's called a nutcracker does not mean that it should be used to crack nuts. Let's just call it a wooden soldier from now on, OK?

How to Carve a Turkey

The New York Times has a good tutorial on how to carve your turkey like a butcher. As opposed to how to butcher a turkey which is what normally happens if you let me cut it.

Back to Learning?

A judge in suburban Chicago has banned the new state mandated moment of silence I wrote about back in October. According to the judge, the law is "likely unconstitutional." If all goes well, the injunction will be made state wide. Again, I have no problem with praying. I do have a problem with forcing kids to pray in public schools.

Pig, it's What's for Dinner

  Mmmm, just imagine this on your Thanksgiving table. The horrified kids alone would make it worth the price. Anyone know how to carve a pig? I love Costco.

rBGH Again

I wrote back in October that Monsanto is trying to pass a law preventing dairies from labeling their milk as free of artificial hormones. Their claim is that such labeling is confusing to consumers. Unfortunately, it looks like they're making progress. The New York Time ran this story today about just such a law that will go in effect in 2008 in the state of Pennsylvania. While that may not effect most of my readers, I fear its the beginning of a trend that could spread to other states. Remember that the use of rBGH is banned in Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Not to worry though, the FDA says it's safe for U.S. citizens.

I Can't Relate to You

Do not, let me repeat this, do not attempt to relate to a professional in any industry by recounting your past brushes with whatever it is they do. I can only put this in concrete terms as a software developer by saying that we hate it when you tell us how you once wrote an Access database to track Aunt Betty's yarn collection or wrote an Excel macro to help out the guys in Accounting. My six year old recently gave her cousin a haircut but I'm pretty sure that doesn't make her a hairdresser. Of course if you'd like her to cut your hair, she's available and charges a reasonable rate. Better still is the "I used to write software" guy. Sure, you probably used to be able to touch your toes as well but those days are long gone. The dream for Olympic gold is probably over. But hey, if you ever meet a gymnast you've got a great ice breaker.