White (ish) Christmas

Here it is, my Christmas miracle:




That's right, it's snow! In Portland! On Christmas Day! Thanks, Santa.

I'm a bit late, but I wanted to post my top 10 non-traditional Christmas/holiday songs (random order):

1. Christians and Pagans by Dar Williams

2. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by Gayla Peevey

3. 25th December by Everything but the Girl

4. Christmas Song by Dave Matthews Band

5. Christmas Dragnet by Stan Freburg and Daws Butler

6. The Peace Carol by John Denver and the Muppets

7. Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon

8. River by Joni Mitchell (lots of other fab version of this song, including Indigo Girls and Sarah McLachlan)

9. Christmastime (Oh Yeah) by Barenaked Ladies

10. Song for a Winter's Night by Sarah McLachlan

11. Donna & Blitzen by Badly Drawn Boy

Okay, so it's a top 11. I was just listening to the last song and it's pretty great, so I added it on a whim. Number two is cheesy and annoying, but it's about hippos, so there you go.

If you're looking for a whole album of festive fabulousness (maybe for next year?) might I recommend Christmas Caravan, Barenaked for the Holidays, Wintersong, and of course, A Charlie Brown Christmas.

I hope everybody has had/is having a super holiday season!

Zucchini Muffins

I'm a bit late posting this, but these are the zucchini muffins I made for St. Patrick's Day (recipe here). They came out great: zucchini-y, not too sweet, and very moist (thanks to the yogurt). Next time I make them I will probably incorporate some cinnamon and nutmeg. I served them with green cream cheese frosting (recipe here), which is optional, but delicious. They keep well too; I had the last one for lunch today and it was still tasty. Yay for eating my vegetables!

(Edited to add that zucchini is hard to spell.)

Mmm...Pi...

My inner geek was delighted to learn that today (3-14, get it?) is Pi Day! What's even more fabulous is that you can send a greeting card in honor of the occasion. I've never been a math whiz, but I love the idea of an "irrational" number. That, and I do have a certain fascination with the Greek language.

Sadly, I haven't read the biography of Pi yet, or even Life of Pi. Nor have I watched Pi the movie, although a former co-worker told me it would Change! My! Life! I guess I know how I'll be celebrating.

(Why yes, I did make that graphic myself. Stop laughing!)

Edited to add that March 14th is also Albert Einstein's birthday. Of course it is!

Hoggy New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year everybody! Welcome to the year of the pig. In honor of the new year, the Chinese postal service has issued these adorable stamps that both smell and taste of sweet and sour pork. Fabulous!

I can't help wondering what they'll do to celebrate next year, the year of the rat.

(illustrations borrowed from my copy of Charlotte's Web)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I still remember an article I wrote about Valentine's Day for my high school newspaper. I put in a lot of great stuff about the pagan origins of Valentine's Day (similar to this article, in fact, but not quite so well written) and my editor, in his infinite wisdom, titled the article "Sacrificing Goats and Dogs." Romantic, eh?

If you are pro-Valentine's Day, check out this post by Shauna James of Gluten-Free Girl. I adore her blog anyway, but this post about finding her true love is particularly sweet and beautifully written.

If you are anti-Valentine's Day, check out the "Hate" menu at Chow.com. Heart tartare, bitter honey, and loads of stinky garlic to keep those pesky cupids at bay.

(ubiquitous angels by Raphael)