Tuesday, November 17, 2009

spots of cheer

Another dismal, grey, rainy day here in Chicago. A few spots of cheer, though:My Windy City Hat and Irish Hiking Wristwarmers finally saw their trial run, and Ysolda's new book arrived in today's post. My handknits kept me warm and cozy but didn't succeed fully in cheering me up. When I met one of my university friends outside the (dreadful) library today, I told her she was witnessing me at my most cantankerous. She laughed and laughed...

Oh well, not every day can be full of rainbows and unicorns, I suppose.

Then again, I do live in Boystown, where every street corner is bedecked with giant rainbow-striped pylons:
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Last night I baked chocolate chip maple walnut cookies (recipe here) before scurrying off to my guitar lesson.
Not the best looking cookies, but they taste pretty great even though I substituted vanilla extract for maple extract. My kitchen is well-stocked, but not that well-stocked. The maple extract would definitely kick up the flavor another couple notches.

OK, off to fix another cup of tea (Candy Cane Lane, best holiday tea ever), down a couple Aleve, and bust out the heating pad. Have you ever read the warning label on a heating pad? Apparently you're not supposed to use it in any way that would actually benefit you at all. I blame the lawyers. Hear that, Paul? ;-)

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