Here we come a caramel-ing! Rivers of snow-white sugar—hailing from a wild night at Santa’s workshop—hit a Pacific Northwest bomb cyclone, and shorted out the electricity in at least twenty different counties in Western Washington. Luckily, the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Team is handy with a bucket and spoon, ready to catch falling confections, stuff… Continue reading Caramel-Me Away Cookie Countdown to Christmas
Zing, Zing, Zing Went the Cranberry!
Cranberry crisis is real. I’m experiencing it now. Hopefully, there are meetings? Sponsors? I blame Starbucks. They have this incredibly amazing, zinger of a cranberry drink called the “Cran-Merry-Orange Lemonade Refresher” that I can’t get enough of. Actually, it all started with Starbucks gift cards. For some reason, we have a number of them in… Continue reading Zing, Zing, Zing Went the Cranberry!
Ships Ahoy! Cranberry-Orange Muffins for Your Crew
To all the scurvy pirates out there, I see you. I’ve baked you some muffins with an extra burst of vitamin C, me hearties! And, they’re super easy because they come from a box mix, which you could probably bring aboard a large vessel to avoid mutiny, but you’d probably bake them on shore and… Continue reading Ships Ahoy! Cranberry-Orange Muffins for Your Crew
O-H-I-O and a Pint to Go
Be still, my Sasquatch heart. The National Beard and Mustache Championships landed on the same day as the Ohio State vs. Penn State game. I know what you’re thinking: just go see the battle of the facial hair. I’m with you! Truly, I am. But here’s the thing: it was unclear at the time if… Continue reading O-H-I-O and a Pint to Go
Fall Foray Through Port Townsend
“Jump in the leaves enough times, and you’ll find an octopus.” If I had a dime for every time I heard this cautionary phrase, I’d have no dimes because no one says that. But if you take a day trip to Port Townsend in Washington state in the fall, you can jump in the leaves… Continue reading Fall Foray Through Port Townsend
DIY Ghost Story: Boil and Bubble, Smells Like Trouble
When the skies overhead look like kraken ooze and the wind howls like a banshee chasing a bobcat through the neighborhood, I like to gather the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Team and DIY my own ghost story. I do it every year in October. This makes year number six? I’ve lost count. In any case,… Continue reading DIY Ghost Story: Boil and Bubble, Smells Like Trouble
Craft Alert: Sloppy Joe Halloween Costume
Lunch lady lore screams a tale of mystery meat, smothered in a red sauce and running wild between two slices of what’s-an-expiration-date-anyway bread. And that tale is captured in my “sloppy joe” costume, which Alex made for me to wear during “spirit week” at work this Halloween. All “joe mama” jokes aside, this mama will… Continue reading Craft Alert: Sloppy Joe Halloween Costume
Bring on the Halloween Treats!
The cauldron at the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Headquarters is running dangerously low on leaf-shaped candy—and whiskey. Typically, I fill the cauldron (little glass bowls) with a candy corn pumpkin mix that I kind of don’t really hate. It satisfies my need for sugar and quaint autumn décor. I don’t LOVE it. But I do… Continue reading Bring on the Halloween Treats!
This is THE Pumpkin Soup, This Time, I Swear
Ghosts of pumpkins past have dared to voice the horrors I’ve unleashed upon them. Every year, about this time, I try to make a pumpkin soup, and it sort of kind of turns out okay. Mediocre pumpkin soup is a crime I’ve committed over and over again. Chalk outlines of pumpkins line my front doorstep.… Continue reading This is THE Pumpkin Soup, This Time, I Swear
Bula! The Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Team Visits Fiji
Mini Fiji, which consists of a hot tub near the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Headquarters—and a bunch of tropical flowers—is nice, but it naturally falls short of the actual Fiji Islands. For instance, it’s missing fruit bats and soooo many more coconuts and stingrays and such. So we time-traveled two days and five hours, to… Continue reading Bula! The Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Team Visits Fiji
Fixin' Leaks and Leeks 