Catching Up in December

How did it get so late so soon?  It’s night before it’s afternoon.  December is here before it’s June.  My goodness how the time has flewn.  How did it get so late so soon?
~ Dr Seuss

At first I thought this quote perfectly captured the short day anxiety I’ve been feeling this winter, but really, it sums up my whole year.  Case in point – this should have been my catching-up post for November.  Not that I’ve been wasting time.  This month, I was thrilled to be part of SAVEUR’s 2012 Cookie Advent Calendar.  It’s full of amazing recipes, and I loved flipping through the cabinets and looking under the lampshades for more suggestions.  If you prefer musical advent experience, the New York Magazine Les Miserable Advent Calendar is a second (albeit close) favorite.  Here’s a quick list of links that may tell you where the rest of my time has gone.

Of course, Thanksgiving slowed everyone down.  If you need an amazing pie to bring to your next holiday party, the pepita topped pumpkin pie from One Girl Cookies made Time Out New York’s Best Pies for the Holidays list.  The recipe is also included in their amazing cookbook.  If you decide to make your own, this Melissa Clark pumpkin guide will help.  For more advice, I suggest you flag this guide to cooking with kale.  There seemed to be a week where everybody was asking what to do with it and, thanks to Chocolate & Zucchini,  I now have fifty answers.

When I’m on an ingredient search that’s not kale-related, Bob’s Red Mill’s often comes through whether it’s masa harina, tapioca starch, rice or garbanzo flour.  I was really happy to read that Bob Moore, the man behind the brand, stands behind his employees as well.  On a less serious note, this Today interview with a woman who owns a possessed toaster may in fact be the greatest interview in television history.  Of course, I understand why she wanted to keep it anyway.  Good toast is hard to find.

As we head into the holidays, if I’d read this article on the endangered dinner party (via A Cup of Jo) before meeting Tamy and Felipe Donnelly of Cómodo, owners of a supper club turned restaurant, I may have been alarmed.  But it’s impossible to visit their Soho restaurant without feeling like you’re having a nice lingering meal with friends – who happen to cook really, really well.

In the nearby West Village, hit hard by Sandy and the subsequent power outage, the candles at chef Jesus Nuñez’s Barraca  provided more than atmosphere.  Having a slightly easier time, chef  Jose Andres’s  answers 10 questions in between planning Spanish cuisine’s reconquista of America one perfectly fried egg at a time through his new program at the International Culinary Center.  In case your wondering, this article tell you where Spanish chefs go for Spanish food in Madrid.

Just in time for the drinking season, here’s a guide to drinking like Hemingway from Food Republic.   When you’re ready to sober up, they also put together this guide on how to properly use your Chemex.  I’ve been meaning to master mine, which is more pretty than useful right now.

Finally, I was late to find them but Lennon and Maisy Stella, now on Nashville, make me think of all the time I wasted growing up and all the empty tubs of butter I’ve heedlessly thrown away.  Must do better but there’s always next year.