This morning

Marty said: "It's like there aren't times of day anymore, there are just different kinds of light."

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A piece of S P R A W L

here for one month

Knit Night Booties

My knitta friends threw me a surprise shower and the main attraction (okay, other than the tropical carrot cake) was a box (decorated in googly-eyed duckie stickers) filled with a handmade pair of booties from each of them. They're sort of obscenely cute.

In order (here and in size): From Dorie: From Erica: From Sarah: From Laura: From Karen.

Thirty-nine Weeks

I love it

I was just flipping through a baby book a friend in town gave me the other day, one of those "What to Expect with Your Baby" sort of things, and there's a sort of thumb-index of words at the top right corner of each page, for quick access. So I'm flipping pages and it goes: Diarrhea, Vomiting, Television, Asthma. Seriously, that's the order.

This friend, Laura, by the way, gave me this and a few other books right after serving the most insanely delicious carrot pudding. I know, it sounds weird. But come visit and I'll make it for you. You will be a carrot-pudding convert. Come!

Belly about House (33-34)

Marty at 32 Weeks

Vacation

So Marty and I have this thing where we both wake up constantly all night. Marty's been an insomniac since I met him. And I'm pregnant, which fucks with your sleep patterns (in case you didn't know). And so now we have this sort of horrible thing we can share. So what we do is we turn on the lights and read in bed and we call it Vacation. Last night we took a nice long vacation. I went to The Book of Words (a weird novel by German writer Jenny Erpenbeck [whose last name sounds like a huge Saxon burp]) and M went to the uncorrected galleys for a new Celine novel DAP is publishing in the Spring. Now I'm so tired I can't even think of what I'm supposed to be doing here at work. There's a list in front of me (I make a list of what to do every night before I leave) but I just keep staring at it like some dead habit.

Stollen Moments

M's first-ever attempt at a Riker holiday tradition. It had cherries in it.

Thirty weeks

A leetle bigger

Twenty-nine weeks

Big

Four years since that day a cat named Jacques said "Meaow" in the middle of our vows

Mmmm

My God People

Is nothing sacred?

First Snow

New Pictures

Here

Make and you will not be sorry

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Note: It’s good to make the dough the night before you intend to bake these, if you can. (It needs to be chilled prior to baking at least 2 hours)

1 ½ cups plus 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp. freshly grated peeled ginger
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup unsulfured molasses
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. boiling water
7 oz semi-sweet chocolate, cut into ¼-inch chunks
¼ cup granulated sugar

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and fresh ginger on medium speed until lightened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.

4. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Set aside.

5. Beat half of the flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate chunks, turn onto plastic wrap. Pat out to a 1-inch thickness; seal with wrap. Refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or overnight.

6. Preheat oven to 325 F. Roll dough into 1 ½-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Chill 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until surfaces just begin to crack, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Cookies are best the same day they are made (ESPECIALLY WARM WHEN THE CHOCOLATE IS ALL MELTY!!!), but can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 5 days.

M on a friend

Here

Second Planet Anyone?

See here.

This week - eighteen weeks (or nineteen?)