It's cold everywhere. My car takes a solid 10 minutes to warm up, the vents blowing tepid air in my direction. My toes are cold. My ears are cold. I blow repeatedly on the tips of my fingers; my thin gray gloves are no match for the weather.
Read moreCHOCOLATE (TOFU) TART
When I was little, we spent our days wandering. You never know what you'll find on a farm: shiny mica-flecked rocks, squirmy crawfish angrily waving their pincers, a delicate robin's egg broken in two.
In the summer, we wade down into the stream that runs like a silver thread through the green fields of our property. We jump in, bare feet first, down by the clothesline where the stream is placid and the bank slopes gently. We tromp along, squishing our feet into muddy streambed, past the three ponds. Here the stream enters the forest. The air is cold and quiet, shaded by tall trees. There's a hushed feeling everywhere, like we're standing in a church out in the open. Occasionally we hear a bird call. The stream deepens. At some points, it eddies and swirls into rushing whirlpools.
Read moreWHITE CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT COOKIES
The heart can think of no devotion
Greater than being shore to ocean -
Holding the curve of one position,
Counting an endless repetition.
[Robert Frost]
Read moreDARK CHOCOLATE S'MORES COOKIES
Winter brings a flurry of cold weather things: down jackets, twinkling string lights, oversized sweaters, fires in the fireplace, cookies, cookies, and more cookies. It doesn’t usually bring sun or buds on the trees or Christmas days hikes in a t-shirt and shorts. But that’s all turned upside down this year, so if we’re going to get all addled with our seasonal cues, I figure we might as well make the most of it and eat some s’mores. We can’t eat them over a beach campfire on a warm July night, but we can turn them into cookies and that’s just as good.
Read moreMOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKE
Happiness is a warm, exhilarating feeling. And being happy because of someone else is even more thrilling: a lightness like you're a balloon buoyed up with air. It's out of your control -- which can be scary and leave you reeling, or amplify your happiness beyond a factor you yourself could achieve.
Being happy like that feels like driving at night up a long stretch of road and hitting every green light, one after another after another. Like walking into the subway station just as the train pulls up. It's Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World" and Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" coming on the radio. Flipping your pillow onto the cool side in the middle of the night. A drink of cold water when you're incredibly thirsty.
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