A Blogging Hiatus Recap

So, dear friends, I've been away for awhile. I've had some mishaps, some adventures, and accomplished a few things. Let me show you a few:

Celebration: I toasted to the New Year with a good looking young man...
Happy surprise: I found a vending machine that serves all kind of addictions...nicotine, chocolate...

Industriousness: I found time to bake, and learned to cook a few new things (my own version chicken chili, homemade chicken pot pie, apple crisp, and macadamia and chocolate chip cookies all went in the 'win' column)...
Stranded: I was officially the last one living on Farwell Avenue to realize it's one giant tow-away zome during snow emergencies. It turned into a ghost town, and I got my car stuck in the snow twice trying to trek out to my dad's house (with it's sweet promise of a garage and plowed drive-way)...

Relief: The first of what is hopefully many acceptance letters to a Ph.D. program, so that I can fulfill my goal of becoming a professor and academically stressing out the--ahem--future leaders of tomorrow...

A Little Baking

Just a good old-fashioned Pierski Christmas cookie baking assembly line at Grandma's...you know, like back in the day before child labor laws made Grandma give you an occasional break from all your hard work.

(If my grandmother is reading...I'm just kidding. And I love you. Do I still get a Christmas present?)

A Rare Culinary Success

Many of you know how I love to partake in my own little culinary disasters- I'm much too spontaneous and creative a cook to be really any good at it. However, I've been slowly endeavoring to get good at baking, and I'm starting to have some success. In celebration of summer and easy to bake things, I made a blueberry and a peach cobbler. I took the peach to work and the blueberry to my dad so they could all try it out for me--and--success! The verdict seems to be that I did just fine. Here's a before and after of the blueberry...