Author: doug

Our treat after shoveling this evening: homemade hot chocolate, made with that toasted sugar from yesterday. This is also Stella Parks’s recipe.

I made a batch of Stella Parks’s toasted sugar for use in a winter-storm recipe tomorrow. It started out the same white color as the stuff in the measuring spoon.

My office’s holiday party was in the North End this evening. On my walk back, the Custom House Tower looked quite dapper above the Greenway.

There were quite a few people walking past my office today for some reason.

We had a mini-split (air conditioning / heat pump) system installed at our house over the last 2 days. Last summer’s heat was just so brutal for me that I had to do something to be able to come home to an already-cooled-down house. We have three indoor units driven by one outdoor unit, but will still use window ACs in a couple of spots including the guest room (sorry, Elaine!). Rebates meant that the latest cold-weather heating technology (rated at 100% output down to 5°F) was actually cheapest for us. I suspect we will actually use it for heat in the shoulder seasons, and having a backup available makes me less anxious about our 30+-year-old boiler.

Before our first winter in this house, we had the basement ceiling insulated. This contributes greatly to our comfort even if it doesn’t contribute much to the house’s efficiency.

I pulled together a little light lunch for myself on this lazy Sunday, and by the time it was all out it looked so appealing that I had to serve it to myself on the cutting board.

Now that we have some snow-like substance on the ground, I can finally get a decent picture of our low-key holiday lights for this year.

According to my calendar, today is Hot Buttered Rum Day. Who am I to deny tradition?

I suppose I could have used a smaller mug.

Lis’s bat mitzvah candle — crooked for the entire 20+ years I’ve known of it — picked this summer to turn into a total U shape. Today we straightened it, using a method I saw online. Thanks Internet! Let’s hope it survives another 35 years.