I've been trying to get Technorati to ping my blog for 18 days now and it still won't do it.

Apparently this has been a problem for many people, since PING is a huge topic in their support section. Hopefully they'll fix this soon.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming. The bread post will be up soon! Not that anyone on Technorati will notice. *sigh* Oh and Happy New Year!

*Updated* I found technorati on twitter!

Update #2 - Wow. The power of twitter. Just a couple of hours later and I got pinged by Technorati and have a comment here from a lead engineer. Thanks Ian!


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What's my connection to Roland Burris? It's pretty much the same as what I have in common with Gisele. Virtually nothing except for a picture.

When I first learned that Illinois Governor Blagojevich had appointed Roland Burris to President-elect Obama's former Senate seat, I knew the name sounded familiar. Really familiar. Then in a flash I remembered.

Circa 1992, I was visiting Rockford, Illinois. The person that I was visiting worked at the Rockford Regional Office of then Attorney General Roland Burris, which we visited. I'm always taking random pictures and I took this one of the window. You never know when you might want to use a picture. Maybe sixteen years later on the eve of a new year in the midst of a political scandal.

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Since the last poll that I had on this blog was quite interesting and fun, I'd like to try another one.

According to some recent polls, most Americans feel that Caroline Kennedy is qualified to take over as Senator for Hillary Clinton.

I think she would be great. She is an intelligent writer and an attorney. She seems willing to learn, and I think that her heart is in the right place. Are there other people who may be more qualified? Maybe. There are probably more qualified people for each job that exists out there, but only one person will get it. Often it has to do with connections and personality. Is that fair? No. But life isn't fair.

*Please note that the alignment is off on the poll. I tried to fix it, but it appears to be an error with the polling website.*



And speaking of the Senate, I've been following the ongoing recount in Minnesota. Al Franken is winning at this point. I wonder how this will all pan out?

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I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays. Christmas was wonderful, but I think I caught my father's cold. I was fighting a cold before going to my parents' house and today I feel like I might be losing the battle.

Well, I just wanted to check in for a bit and give you a preview of what's coming up in the next few days. I've baked my best loaf of bread yet and I'm working on an overdue book review.

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I'll be off blog for a couple of days, but wanted to share one of my favorite Christmas songs from when I was a kid. Remember Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol?

I found the video on YouTube and see that the song is actually called "The Lord's Bright Blessing." As a kid, the only words I remembered were "and razzleberry dressing."

That song was how I came up with the name And Razzleberry Dressing for the food blog that I used to write. I already baked my special holiday treat for tomorrow. Check out my gingerbread recipe here.

Merry Christmas everyone!


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It's funny the time that it takes to get to a recipe. Based on my comment on the post where I found this recipe, I found it in April 2007. Why the Christmas of 2008 did it suddenly find its way to me? It's anyone's guess.

Well, I'm glad that the stars aligned the way that they did, because I have another biscotti recipe that's a keeper. I have to admit that I got a bit distracted when I was making these and I lost count of the amount of flour, so I'm approximating.

There were a few more changes from the original recipe too. I had planned to use dried cranberries, but I've been using them in my breakfast oatmeal and ran out. I had to improvise, so I defrosted some fresh cranberries that had been in my freezer for much longer than I had planned. I crushed the cranberries in my food processor and it gave the dough a really pretty pink color that I thought was quite festive.

Oh and there was a slight mishap when I melted the chocolate in the microwave. I smelled smoke, but was able to save most of the chocolate in the end. Hmmm. This probably sounds worse than it was. This really is a good recipe. G and I really enjoyed these for the very short time that they lasted.

Christmas Biscotti
[Adapted from Dried Cranberry + White Chocolate Biscotti, by Monisha]
(makes about 22 cookies)

1 cup fresh cranberries (crushed in processor)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup Smart Balance (softened)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 - 4 cups all-purpose flour

In a medium to large bowl, combine Smart Balance (or butter or margarine) with eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and cranberries. Add white chocolate chips, salt, and baking powder. Stir well. Add flour slowly until you cannot stir anymore. Turn dough onto a clean floured surface and shape into two logs. Place these logs on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Bake for about 35 minutes.

Glaze
1 1/2 T vanilla rice milk
1/2 cup melted chocolate chips

In a small bowl, prepare chocolate glaze. Whisk together rice milk and melted chocolate until smooth. Set aside.

Remove baked logs from oven and let cool. With a sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/2 inch pieces. Turn each piece onto its side. Bake for another 7 minutes. Take out cookie sheet and turn each piece over to brown the remaining side. Bake for another 7 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Drizzle chocolate glaze over biscotti or dip the ends into glaze. Let glaze set and serve. Enjoy!

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And it did back in 1950, around when this picture of a Parcel Post Truck and Carrier was taken. I couldn't resist using it. I found it on flickr in the photostream of the Smithsonian.

We are being buried by snow in Massachusetts. Yes, it's pretty, but I'm ready for it to be over. For me, we have now had enough snow for the Winter of 2008-2009. We'll have a White Christmas. Today is the Winter Solstice, so the days will only get longer now. I'm ready for Spring!

But I do still have some winter treats up my sleeve. I'll soon be posting a Christmas Biscotti recipe. Until then, check out this biscotti recipe from a few years back.


Daylight is almost done for today, so have a good evening everyone and Happy Hanukkah. Hanukkah candles via woodleywonderworks on flickr.

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It's already Friday and I can't believe that I haven't posted for most of the week. In the Boston area, we're getting ready for our first big snow storm of the season. I may update later with pictures and possibly more recipes. But there were chocolate muffins that I promised you, so let me get to them.

The original recipe is from Baking: From my home to yours, by Dorie Greenspan. You can't go wrong there. These muffins were outrageously delicious. They are light and fluffy and melt in your mouth. The first time that I made these muffins, I stuck fairly close to the original recipe.

When I was reading the recipe, I thought that the amount of baking powder seemed a bit extreme, but I've noticed that the proportions of leaveners are often quite different with her recipes. I guess that's why she's such a baking legend. She has a very unique way of using ingredients.

The second time I made these muffins, I added some peanut butter and used white chocolate chips instead of regular chocolate chips. That's the recipe that I'm giving you below. While a bit different, I like to think that these muffins have the same spirit as the original.

Chocolaty Peanut Butter Muffins With White Chocolate Chips
[Adapted from Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins, Baking From My Home To Yours]
(makes 1 dozen muffins)

3 T peanut butter
3 T Smart Balance (margarine or butter)
1 egg
1 1/4 cups vanilla rice milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweeteened cocoa powder
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 T baking powder
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, combine softened peanut butter and Smart Balance. Stir in the remaining ingredients, except for chips and flour. Combine well, although the batter will not be smooth. Stir in flour just until combined. Stir in chips. Place paper liners in muffin pan. Pour mixture into pan. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Let cool before serving. Enjoy!

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There was all kinds of excitement on November 4th when Barack Obama and Joe Biden were elected as our future President and Vice-President. However, before the January 20th Inauguration, two more crucial steps have to take place.

Today all across the country, Electoral College members cast their votes to formally elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden President and Vice-President of the United States. This is the first step. Then on January 8th, the electoral votes are counted in a joint session of Congress.

Below is a quote from an article today in Congressional Quarterly.
"...[I]n a strictly technical sense, Obama hasn’t won anything yet — though the ritual casting of electoral votes in each of the 50 state capitals and the District of Columbia, scheduled to take place Monday, will begin the two-step process to certify the former Illinois senator’s election as the 44th president of the United States.

Obama won a clear-cut victory in the nation’s popular vote, with 53 percent to 46 percent for McCain. But presidential elections are decided by winning a majority of the 538 electoral votes, with each of the 50 states allotted a number equal to both its U.S. Senate seats plus all of its House seats. The District of Columbia, which has only a non-voting House delegate, is allotted three electoral votes under the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution.

There is no dispute that Obama also will win a firm majority of the 538 electoral votes. He should receive 365 to 173 for McCain, according to state-by-state tallies of the popular vote. The electors in each of these places — many of them Democratic and Republican activists, and nearly all selected by the candidates’ campaigns because of their loyalty — will convene to cast the votes that will make Obama’s election official.

These electoral votes will then be counted in a joint session of Congress on Jan. 8, two days after the 111th Congress convenes and 12 days before Obama will take the oath of office."
Even though most of us may have not taken note, for those who are members of the Electoral College, this must be a pretty exciting day.

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A few months ago, I found this recipe for cinnamon rolls. I saved the link and then finally printed it out. The recipe was sitting in a newly formed pile of recipes until I pulled it out recently. I think I baked these cinnamon rolls last week. They were gone so quickly, it's hard to remember.

They are very simple to make, because they don't contain yeast, so you don't have to wait for them to rise. I baked them at night, so the apartment smelled like cinnamon, which is a wonderful way to fall asleep. And then you can have the rolls for breakfast.

When I first told G that I would be making them, he didn't seem too thrilled. He'd previously eaten some cinnamon rolls without much filling and he didn't like having the plain roll remaining. These rolls won him over.

Whether you bake them at night or in the morning, these cinnamon rolls pair nicely with a hot drink to keep you warm and happy on a cold winter morning. I also had mine with some blackberries in vanilla yogurt for some extra flavor and nutrition.

These rolls don't have any eggs. The way that I adapted the original recipe, I subsituted Smart Balance Organic Buttery Spread for butter and Vanilla Soy Shake for the buttermilk, so they end up being vegan friendly too.

Improvisational Hints: If you don't have a pastry brush, use a spoon to spread the Smart Balance. You can also use butter or margarine if you prefer. If you don't have a rolling pin, use a tall sturdy drinking glass. Instead of the Soy Shake, you can use milk, buttermilk, rice milk, or even try eggnog for something festive this season. I haven't tried the eggnog, but if you do, you may want to decrease some of the sugar in the dough.

Cinnamon Rolls
[Adapted from Buttermilk-Cinnamon Rolls - The Boston Globe (August 20, 2008)]

Dough
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 T granulated sugar
1/3 cup Smart Balance
1 cup Vanilla Soy Shake

In medium bowl, microwave Soy Shake and Smart Balance. Combine with remaining dry ingredients. Sprinkle a clean surface with flour. Place dough on surface and knead until smooth. With a rolling pin, roll out dough into a rectangle. About 7x12 inches.

Filling
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 tsps. cinnamon
1/4 cup Smart Balance (melted)

In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients. With a pastry brush, brush the dough with some of the Smart Balance. Spread all the filling evenly over the dough, leaving space on the edges. Take one side of the dough and roll it up. You will have a log. Cut the log in half, then cut that in half. Then cut each into thirds. You will have 12 cinnamon roll pieces.

Grease a square baking pan. Place each roll into the pan in four rows of three. Brush the remaining Smart Balance over the tops of the rolls. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for about five minutes, while you are making the glaze.

Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 T vanilla rice milk

In a smill bowl, whisk together sugar and milk until smooth. Pour glaze over cinnamon rolls. Let sit for about five minutes, then serve. Enjoy!


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Both recipes will be coming up soon! Like American Express, unemployment has its privileges. Unfortunately, they are completely different privileges, yet privileges nonetheless.

I've had the privilege of a bit more time for baking. Oh and while not a privilege, there was also a lack of transportation. The Bug was in the shop for a week. I finally got it back today. Being a bit stressed and stuck in the house is quite conducive to baking.

Today I found this really funny blog called F*** You, Penguin. It's hilarious. We have to find some way to laugh in these tough economic times. G and I also really enjoyed watching the DVDs of The Starter Wife. It's a really good show.

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It's that time of year again. Time to Eat Christmas Cookies! I made my first batch for a party this past weekend over my friend N's house. It was a really good time. We even played some reindeer games. And she made some of the best chicken salad I've ever tasted. But you want to hear about cookies.

I wanted to make some cookies that I've never tried before. Since I finally organized my stray recipes into nice binders, I was able to look and see more of the cookie recipes that I had collected over the past decade or so. The recipe needed to be quick, easy, and with very few ingredients. I had just done food shopping and would not be buying anything additional.

And these cookies would also be a part of Food Blogga's 2nd Annual Eat Christmas Cookie Event. I was trying to make something that I had not seen submitted by anyone else. That could change at any moment, but hopefully I was able to pick an original recipe. Chai-Spiced Almond Cookies were the ones I finally decided on. I found them on one of the pages of my notebook, then I also found the recipe online.

This recipe is from the January 2006 issue of Bon Appétit. The recipe is fairly straightforward.

My only additional hint relates to the use of cardamom. In the past, I've found it difficult using a mortar and pestle to grind the seeds. However, I was given a hint by Asha. She said that cardamom is often used in Indian cooking and that most Indians know to use a small amount of granulated sugar when grinding the seeds. I gave it a try and it did the trick.

I highly recommend these cookies. They were quick and tasted really good. Everyone seemed to like them. They have a bit of a crunch and are great for dunking into milk, eggnog, tea, coffee, whatever you like. I hope you give them a try.

Chai-Spiced Almond Cookies
Adapted from Jan. 2006 Bon Appétit
(makes 22 cookies)

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
2/3 cups powdered sugar (set aside 1/3 cup in small bowl)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 T vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 finely chopped almonds

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, except for 1/3 cup of powdered sugar that you've set aside for later. With your hands, roll dough into small balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from stove and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Place cookies in bowl of remaining powdered sugar. Roll cookies in sugar and make sure they are all covered. Enjoy!

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A French entrepreneur named Jean-Jacques Attisso has used President-elect Barack Obama's slogan and face to market a new energy drink, which tastes like chewing gum.

Attisso, who is originally from Togo, has been giving away the bottles of Obama Soda and plans to auction 100 bottles in January to raise money for a charity. Check out this video of Attisso.

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The things you learn on twitter. I was on there while I was making Pad Thai and waiting for the chicken to cool. I saw this tweet about CupcakeCamp. CupcakeCamp??!!



I Googled around a bit, which led me to the CupcakeCamp website. They are streaming live right now from CupcakeCamp. Pretty cool.

I found these photos from the June 2008 CupcakeCamp event in San Francisco via Tyfn on flickr. The event happening today was also held there. And I just received a flickr mail from Tyfn letting me know about some photos from today's event. Below is a photo from today courtesy of Scott Beale / Laughing Squid. He also has a video here.



And apparently, the people who threw this event are going to show people how to do it in their cities. Hmmm. A CupcakeCamp in Boston would be pretty sweet. I think there's some interest.

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Like tens of thousands of people on twitter, I've been following Chris Brogan . I read this tweet and found an article on Lost Remote, which provided a link to this article on New York/Around Town.

It seems that Arianna Huffington thinks that with so many people being laid off now, it provides them more time to blog for her for free. As you can see, I'm intentionally not linking to her blog and immediately after I publish this post, I'm taking her blog off of my sidebar links.

According to a Gawker article, Ms. Huffington just raised $25 million dollars in venture capital funds. And she apparently doesn't pay her bloggers.

She obviously values the content that her bloggers provide. So when people are providing a valuable service for her, why can't she can't pay them even a small amount, like fifty dollars per post? What kind of madness is this? Well, actually I guess it's greed.

I know that blogging for her provides exposure for the writer, but exposure doesn't pay the rent or mortgage, food, electric, gas, Visa, MasterCard or American Express bill. Or the student loan. Exposure is great, but it takes time to pay off. These are dire times.

Bloggers are writers. Writers provide a service that is valuable. When they provide that service for a business making millions of dollars, they should be compensated by that multi-million dollar business. I am thoroughly disgusted.

I'll stop my rant, because I have to find a cookie recipe so that I can bake them for a party tonight. I'll be blogging about the cookies soon.

*Updated 12/7/008* You can probably tell that this topic has me fired up. Here is some additional reading for you, if you're interested.

I commented here in a similar discussion with some great feedback. Read the entire BlogHer post called Blogging for free: Would you do it? That post generated a great deal of discussion with 40 comments.

There is another interesting post on Freelance Writing Jobs with 65 comments regarding pay for freelance writers. The post is called FWJ Poll: Let’s Try This Again - What Do You Earn as Freelance Writer?

I also wrote a Guest Post on FWJ about the idea of money and writing called The Essence of a Writer, which you can read here.

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I've realized something about myself through blogging. When I get stressed and overwhelmed, I try to have fun. Well, first there may be some serious pajama time with chocolate chip cookie dough eating, but I try not to let that last too long.

I also usually unload on my my mom and then she makes me feel better. I try not to complain to my friends or rant on my blog. At least too much. Instead, I look at my flickr favorites and put up blog games!

Remember the Blog My Blog game? It's still going strong! That makes me smile whenever I see it. There are some pretty interesting questions being asked.

So with all this having been said. Well, written actually, I found another fun blog game that I've been sitting on for a bit. There's a cool website called Typealyzer. You put in your blog url and it "tells" you your personality type based on your blog posts.

I did it for my blog and it said that my type is ESTP - The Doers. Here is a partial description of an ESTP type.

"The active and play-ful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities. "

I'm not sure how accurate it is, but it's a nice distraction. I guess I am sort of playful. But on another note entirely, I can attest to the truth of this article describing the phone lines being overwhelmed at unemployment offices. It's very difficult to get through.


Photo via Typealyzer+Sol at Accented.

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Well, I would say that my recent poll on President-elect Obama's choices for his team was quite a success.

Yahoo! News helped again giving this blog around 1,200 visitors that day. 534 of you have voted so far, which is a pretty good percentage. See the questions and answers below. Photo via flickr.

How do you feel about President-elect Obama's choices for his team?

I'm happy with most of his choices. 65% (346 votes)

I'm not happy with most of his choices. 15% (82 votes)

I'm happy with some of his choices. 11% (59 votes)

I'm overwhelmed with the number of people. 2% (13 votes)

I'm not sure. 2% (11 votes)

I don't care. 2% (12 votes)

I'd rather be reading about or eating food. 1% (6 votes)

Other: 1% (5 votes)

Cick here to see poll results on PollDaddy.com. Three people left comments on that website, which I've copied below.

Janice said, "I'm okay with everyone but Hillary. I just don't trust her, I believe it was a political move. I just pray that he has someone watching her because she is rather cutthroat."

M. Snavely said, "I do not agree with all his ex-Clinton people. I thought he was for change. The Clingtons are so hungry for money and power, they will be running the White House - not Obama."

Ramona said, "I think Obama choices are reasonable. Obama is looking at resumes. I think Hillary will be a great contribution to the Obama team. I think Obama is going in the right the direction!!! I believe in him and it's sad because this is the 2nd time that I am excited about the choice that we the American people have made with electing a qualified President. The 1st time was Bill Clinton!!!"

Thank you everyone for your enthusiastic response! This poll is certainly not a scientific one. Just based on my curiosity. However, it does give me a general idea of what many of you are thinking.

Overall, it seems that a lot of you are pretty happy with Obama's choices. I'm still feeling rather overwhelmed, but I believe that our President-elect knows what he's doing. I have to have faith in his choices even if I don't understand and/or agree with some of them.


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I've been very excited about President-elect Obama's choices for his team. However, I'm not particulary happy with his choice of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State .

Some of the people that he's choosing I've never heard of. Others seem to cause a great deal of disappointment. I found a facebook group of Obama Supporters Against Larry Summers. I'm kind of overwhelmed with the whole thing.

I decided to create a poll to see how many of you feel. We'll see how this works. I'm not sure if this poll will appear as it's supposed to. If it doesn't appear in this post, I'll try and put it on one of the sidebars.

How do you feel about President-elect Obama's choices for his team?
( polls)


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Not layoffs, but layaway. What a sign of the times.

When I was a teenager, and maybe even in my early twenties, I remember buying things on layaway. I had very little debt back then. Those were the days.

Well, for many people, what's old is new again. Layaway is back. It makes sense. Instead of racking up debt, you can pay a little cash over time to make your purchases. There's no instant gratification, but there's also no buyer's remorse.

I've recently learned that layaway has gone 21st century. Now you don't have to go to the store to put your items on layaway, you can go online and do it. Lay-Away.com and eLayaway both offer these services. I haven't tried them out, but the concept is kind of interesting. Have any of you tried the new layaway?

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An Obama Cake! For one of the many desserts that we had on Thanksgiving, my Aunt K brought this beautiful cake from Daniel's Bakery in Brighton Center.

Nobody wanted to be the first one to cut it, so it sat there for a bit. Eventually we all dug in though. Obamalicious!

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