“Above all, autocrats succeed when democrats falter, squabble, and dither.” —Michael Hirsch, Foreign Policy As I’m writing this, the House Judiciary Committee is preparing to vote on whether to advance two articles of impeachment of President Donald Trump. I feel certain the vote will be cast by the time I hit publish. I haven’t been…
Stollen
“Despite being a widespread practice, baking requires a burdensome amount of precision to get right. You can’t just wing the flour amounts and whatnot. If you do, whatever’s in the oven will end up betraying you. So it’s funny that the universal test for such a finicky discipline of cooking boils down to DURRRR just…
Frosted Eggnog Cookies
“They say you never forget your first time, though in the case of your first high it’d be perfectly understandable if you did. Maybe you had a giggling fit. Maybe you got really absorbed in petting the carpet … Whatever you were doing the first time you got stoned, you probably look back on that…
Tahini and Cranberry Whole Wheat Skillet Cookie
Do you know why I originally made this unique and holiday-appropriate skillet cookie last year? Because I had half a bag of fresh cranberries left over from something and I didn’t want to waste them. That’s it, that’s the whole reason. Fascinating! And that, my dear friends, is why I rarely write about food on…
Pumpkin-Ginger Oat Scones
“…it could be argued that the Senate minority leader is only doing what top Democrats always do: fetishize the idea of bipartisanship and brag about their friendships across the aisle.” —Mehdi Hasan They’re dropping like flies: Republican Representative Peter King is just the latest in a string of House Republicans announcing their retirement after this…
Maple-Pecan Cinnamon Cake with Maple Buttercream
“There’s nothing wrong with a plain and simple frosted cake.” —Melissa Clark At this point, it’s all but undisputed that the internet democratized recipe development and sharing, wrenching the top-down choke hold from froufrou and, in fairness not-so-froufrou, cooking magazines. This gave talented former nobodies a bigger platform and consumers much more choice. Food blogs…
Julia Reed’s Scotch Old-Fashioned
“I do not understand this person on any level. Buy candy and hand it out. If you run out of candy, turn your light off. The end.” —Molly with the Mediocre Hair, Jezebel Commenter As my regulars know, about a year and a half ago, Mr. Wallace and I traded our beloved city life for…
Oatmeal, Cranberry, and Chocolate Chunk Cookies
“We all know about the snarky coverage of conservatism, right? That’s not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is the overly kind coverage of conservatism.” —Jeff Sharlet As a loyal viewer, I’d like to give a nod of approval to last Thursday’s (October 17, 2019) Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode, entitled “The Burden…
Chorizo Chili with an Avo Baked Egg
“And entertainment has nothing to do with reality. Entertainment is antithetical to reality.” ― Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park I packed eight books for leisure beach reading on my birthday vacation last month. A tad ambitious, as I read four, got about a third of the way through a fifth (which I did eventually finish), and the…
Green Beans with Snail Butter
“You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t.” –Barack Obama Back in 2015, I told all my friends and family and anyone who would listen (so, no one) that Hillary Clinton would lose the presidential race. No one believed me, and I let them talk me out of it, obviously because deep down…
