Retail Therapy

During the long, long week and a half we spent waiting for Mimi to arrive, and the long, long days I spent having contractions that didn't get anywhere, I must confess to having vented some of my frustration by shopping. I splurged at Penzeys,

indulged myself at amazon.com,

and after our daughter finally decided to join us out in the world, reached an agreement with my mom in which we would split the cost of a new, 6-quart stand mixer as an early Christmas gift--replacing the smaller one that has been used pretty darn hard for the ten years I've had it, and which spews flour all over the place every time I start it.

I don't think I'll be getting anything else for Christmas now, but I'm going to have a lot of fun!

Today is the next-to-last market of the season. The temperatures have gotten sharply colder. It's time to snuggle down and think warm thoughts, turn on the oven, dig out the hats and mittens, and buy root vegetables.