A terrifying earthquake “bed-box” video surfaced on my social media channels. A computer-generated woman, sound asleep, is suddenly swallowed by her own bed as a mechanism of defense against an earthquake. The vibrations have triggered her bed to “eat” her and stuff her (safely) inside a steel frame box, with fireproof wrapping, and snacks. (You… Continue reading Emergency Alert: These Spiced Beef Pockets Are Pretty Good
Keeping the Lid on Things: New Storage Solution
Hell is a kitchen cabinet oozing with nearly melted, dented, stained (and smelly) plastic containers that have no lids. I created this hell myself, in several fits of organizational epiphanies, and all was not well. I have shrieked in agony, “Can’t I just bleepin’ put some sauce in something that hasn’t imploded?” And then, on… Continue reading Keeping the Lid on Things: New Storage Solution
You Say Potato, I Say Snack Potato
If a pack of potatoes eyes you from across the store, stay cool. Everything will be okay. It’s when they can’t look you in the eyes—that’s when you steer clear. However, I’ve never met a potato I haven’t found appealing, and on Tuesday night, when Nate and I did some midweek shopping, I decided a… Continue reading You Say Potato, I Say Snack Potato
Raise the Bar: Chocolate Tasting
Don a lampshade and prepare to be the life of the next chocolate-tasting party. The Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks team has some tips for you—none that we’ve actually tried ourselves, but Ghirardelli recommends them, and that’s good enough for us—to try later. If you happen to have a bunch of good-quality chocolate lying around, now’s… Continue reading Raise the Bar: Chocolate Tasting
Avalanche of Home Repairs
Screeching and other unsettling noises shook the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Headquarters yesterday. No, I was not baking a pie. And no, the house was not temporarily besieged by ghosts (that I know of). Instead, we had three “blizzards” of home repairs and improvements converging at once. First, on the coldest day of the year… Continue reading Avalanche of Home Repairs
New Year, New Air: Portable Air Purifier
Hoping to create cool blasts of mountain-fresh air, while my hair swirls in a breeze of music-video slow-motion effect—I requested a portable air purifier for Christmas. And I got one, which I promptly took to work to prevent sudden sneeze attacks. While it won’t produce super-model, swoon-worthy gusts of wind for photo shoots, it will… Continue reading New Year, New Air: Portable Air Purifier
A Roaring Good Time: 2023 in Review
Bear sightings increased by 100% this year, which was not a goal the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Team expected to set, but we hit it! One or two bears wandered into our neighborhood this fall and continued to wander around other neighborhoods, parks, and the Safeway lot. (See the picture below, which someone from our… Continue reading A Roaring Good Time: 2023 in Review
New Christmas Cookie Ball Game
Sugar cookies get plastered at my house this time of year, and I’m tired of it. Not plastered in the sense that they raid the liquor cabinet (though I do usually set them right next to the rum balls, which give off heady fumes). No, they stick to the sides of the clear cookie jar… Continue reading New Christmas Cookie Ball Game
It’s-a-Marshmallow-World-in-the-Kitchen-Cookies
A floofy flurry of festive marshmallows invaded the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Headquarters, and I knew just what to do with them. I stuffed their cute little faces inside hot melted butterscotch chips and peanut butter to create a cookie for the holidays. The cookie is actually called a confetti square, and the recipe I… Continue reading It’s-a-Marshmallow-World-in-the-Kitchen-Cookies
Dashing Through the Dough: Candy-Cane Sprinkled Shortbread Cookies
The merry blob of cookie dough in my refrigerator just received a festive festooning of peppermint sprinkles. And the Fixin’ Leeks and Leeks Team approves. To make the merriest of shortbread cookies, I used Ina Garten’s recipe. I shaped the cookies using a cookie dough scoop, placing them on a cookie sheet, and lightly flattening… Continue reading Dashing Through the Dough: Candy-Cane Sprinkled Shortbread Cookies
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