In years that my mother opts to make Christmas treats to give out, she makes two items. She makes her fantastic peanut butter balls and she makes Christmas butter cookies from a recipe I’ve not encountered anywhere else.

Whoever said laughter is the best medicine was definitely on to something. I mean, is it better than antibiotics? No…but it’s definitely a way to feel better in almost any circumstance. What follows, then, is a random assortment of things that currently make me laugh, including the groaners that my brother calls “dad jokes.”

When I was young, my mother started teaching me to cook. I took to some lessons, not so much to others, but she did require that I cook one meal a week for the family.

I get as star-struck as any average citizen.  But not over celebrities...no.  Over authors.

Does this look like the face of a pumpkin pie thief? No? Well, she’s had a couple years to perfect that innocent look, but I assure you that she is in fact a little ninja when it comes to swiping unguarded pie.

The Scholomance series is comprised of three books written by Naomi Novik: A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, and The Golden Enclaves.

As any decent coffee house knows, you can’t really properly have coffee (or tea) without coffee cake.

The fiber artists among my readers will know that SABLE stands for Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. For you muggles (those who don’t knit or crochet), I will further explain that I myself have achieved SABLE. It’s exactly what it sounds like. My yarn stash has grown to such proportions that even if I knit or crochet for several hours every day for the rest of my life, I will never get through it all.

Ahhhh, comfort food. Is there anything better? And here in the good old US of A, I would posit that macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food.

Once upon a time, I only needed to look forward to chapped and peeling lips in the winter. And then in the fullness of time, it became a year-round affliction.

I love bananas. Especially in a dessert. Banana bread. Banana cream pie. And banana cake. I particularly like quick and easy banana cake, using a box mix and some canned cream cheese frosting. Super easy, and a respectful way to deal with the inevitable buildup of very ripe bananas, as I always buy more than I can eat.

When the X-Files came out in the 90s, I wanted to love it. I really did. And I felt like I should have. But I didn’t. It was icky and creepy and most importantly, I didn’t actually like or care about the characters.

I love vanilla. I love it more than chocolate. No, that’s not right. I love it as much as chocolate. I mean, I love it almost as much as chocolate.

If you haven’t read Part 1, then do that before starting this post.

I’ve often thought that if a reader can be introduced to certain amazing children’s stories as a child, they experience it in a deep way that is not possible if they wait until they are adults before reading the story for the first time. Case in point: C.S. Lewis’ famous book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

A day without chocolate is like…well, I must confess that I don’t actually know what a day without chocolate is like.

There are many lovely websites (and YouTube channels) devoted to utterly beautiful and artistic bullet journals. This is not one of those websites.

A cream pie in the face is…well, it’s quite frankly a criminal waste of a cream pie.

In my modest fabric stash (if by “modest” you understand that I mean it is not overflowing the containers I put it in), I recently found a jelly roll I’d forgotten about.

What is pollinosis? Well, that would be the medical term for hay fever. Seasonal allergies. Allergic rhinitis. Thank you, thesaurus.com.