Many of you, especially those of you who love to bake, may recognize this post title as the title of an incredible cookbook by Dorie Greenspan. I only recently purchased it after making many of her recipes that I read about on other food blogs. Her desserts have become such a staple in my baking, that I figured I owed it to myself to have the entire book. I was especially interested in purchasing the book after learning about a group of food bloggers who bake recipes from this book and blog abou... More ...

It was truly one of the worst nightmares of my life. G and I watched the debate last night between Biden and Palin. She did hold her own by not answering most of the questions and focusing on what she wanted to talk about. I thought Biden did a great job. Especially when he really brought it home about how McCain was no maverick when it comes to the really critical issues. Anyway, here is my Palin nightmare. I think I was locked in a basement. It was really dark and I was so scared. All I could ... More ...

I had this idea of a very grand and beautiful post signifying my wonderful and triumphant return to blogging. Well, it's not gonna happen. I'm back, but at the moment, I'm ready to take another nap. Right after this post. Tomorrow, it will be two weeks since my surgery. The first week was kind of blurry. I was sleeping a lot from the meds and kept noticing that I was always waking up, which I guess means I was constantly falling asleep without realizing it. So much for all the comments encouragi... More ...

(Photo from Yahoo! Sports) Oh I am going to get SO MUCH shit from my grandmother. But for tonight, we're just going to celebrate our second straight ALCS berth and sing a few bars of "O, Canada" in honor of Jason Bay, who, were they to award an ALDS MVP, would surely be in contention along with Jon Lester. Not gonna lie. Did not expect this. But I will take it. Turns out wins with house money are just as sweet. And the quote of the evening thus far goes to Tom Caron in re: the irrepressible Jon... More ...

(Photo from Boston.com) Sure, okay, great. We'll play another one. I mean, at this point, I really should be thinking that any extra baseball is gravy since I absolutely did not expect the Sox to take both games in Los Angeles. Or Anaheim. Or whatever. So I should just be happy with everything. But now they've gone and got me caring. Got me invested. Given me Playoff Stomach. You know what that feels like. Playoff Stomach is when you're in extras and the bases are loaded and you develop a sudde... More ...

(Photo from Boston.com) Matt Cassel, I am delighted to tell you, is maturing in front of our very eyes. Or so today's announcers told us, um, approximately four-thousand, eight-hundred and twenty-four times. I have no choice but to take them at their word. Of course, one presumes it is easier to mature in this manner when you have Randy Moss available to haul in 60-yard bombs for TDs. That'll help. Reports out of Foxboro this week told us all that Moss and Cassel were striving to develop a rap... More ...

CommonWealth Unbound is a new blog from Mass. Inc. ... More ...

Boston Examiner, a now mostly auto-generated site that aims to be like Boston Now, only successful, is advertising for a couple dozen bloggers who would get paid (based on page views) for their posts. Read more ... More ...

Alecia had the story a week ago on how T workers were planning a work slowdown; now the Globe follows up with its own story. The Globe does provide the whys of the story. Read more ... More ...

(from www.honkfest.org/schedule.htm ) HONK! Parade: Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet October 12, Sunday, 12 noon to 2 pm From Davis Square to Harvard Square Description: The “Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet!” street parade will join local community groups and performers with HONK! brass bands in a massive procession beginning at Sacco’s Bowl Haven on Day Street, proceeding down Elm Street to Beech Street, and then processing down Massachusetts Avenue to Harvar... More ...

Annual ANT Bike Party (Bike Rides and Open House) When: Saturday, October 18, 2008 Where: Holliston Mill Building 24 Water Street Holliston, MA Click here for directions. Time: Bike Rides, 11am to 1pm ~20 mile scenic foliage ride with Mike ~5 mile kid friendly ride around Holliston with Betsy, with stops at playgrounds (at least one parent/adult should accompany their children) ~Please... More ...

ArtROX!, the 10th annual Roxbury Open Studios is this weekend, October 4-5, 11am-6pm. This year Discover Roxbury and ACT Roxbury are jointly promoting new self-guided bike routes. There are 5 routes of various difficulty ranging from 2 miles to 8 miles. Although the routes are short in length, each presents a combination of group shows and individual artist studios highlighting artists working in various disciplines. The routes also cross each other in different parts of the neighborhood allowi... More ...

A long weekend of baseball on the south side of Chicago and the final result was the Sox won all 4 games.(Red Sox 2 White Sox 2 ) Red Sox Nation was at U.S. Cellular Field in force all weekend and for the most part was very well behaved. We met a couple Monday night and their reason for being in Chicago saddened me. They are from Randolph and ardent Red Sox (and especially Coco) fans. I asked if they get to Fenway often and their reply stunned me. They don't go to Fenway *NOT* because they can'... More ...

I am in the middle of a baseball vacation and we will see our beloved Sox tonight and tomorrow in Kansas City and then in Chicago this weekend. I had never seen a game at Wrigley Field so last night we went to the old ballpark at Clark and Addison. I won't remember much of the game but I will never forget the sheer terror of thinking I am going to die with 40,000 other people. The Chicago Tribune explains The clock on top of the venerable Wrigley Field scoreboard read 8:06 p.m. Monday when torna... More ...

On Sunday evening I took my teenage son to Yankee Stadium so he could experience all that The Stadium in The Bronx can offer ( the history, the smells, the garbage etc ) I had bought the tickets months ago from Ticketmaster.com and chose the will-call option. After waiting in line nearly 30 minutes at the window I gave the clerk my ID and confirmation from Ticketmaster. NO TICKETS Of course I asked for the ticket manager and after about 10 minutes I was told to go into the lobby of the Yankees o... More ...

Poor Dick Enberg. Though his voice is still strong, and I enjoy his enthusiasm calling the game, the 73-year-old Enberg struggled mightily at times yesterday, calling the wrong players, and getting numerous facts incorrect. I've always liked Enberg, but he's clearly on the way down. We never really got an explanation of why Dan Fouts was also there, forming a three man booth with Enberg and Randy Cross. They mentioned several times that Fouts would be with them for the next few weeks, but didn't... More ...

A few quick national views for the mid-morning… Peter King is back with another edition of Monday Morning QB. The Patriots move up to number 6 on King's Fine Fifteen. Michael Silver looks at a rejuvenated Kurt Warner in his Morning Rush column. John Clayton leads off his Last Call with a look at the 5-0 Tennessee Titans. Clark Judge has his week five NFL judgements. Cold, Hard Football Facts has a look at Bill Parcells' latest reclamation project, the Miami Dolphins, who appear to be ahead... More ...

The Angels showed something at Fenway Park last night, finally breaking through and beating the Red Sox in a postseason game. Let's hope the floodgates haven't been opened with this one win, and that Jon Lester will be able to squash the Angel uprising tonight before things start to get serious. Between the Red Sox and Patriots, there are ton of links this morning, and I'm not going to be able to get to them all in this post, but we'll give you a fair sampling from across New England. During the... More ...

There was way too much chance that Sarah Palin was going to screw up, so props to the McCain campaign for having the good sense to send that TalkingPointsBot in her stead. Too bad the "maverick" button got stuck in the "on" position for so long, though. ... More ...

Slideshow here. If you're a fan of Rock/Paper/Saddam, you should be all over this too. ... More ...

Google is celebrating its 10th anniversary by displaying a search engine from 2001, the earliest they have still on file. To give you an idea how long ago that was, the New York Yankees were still defending World Champions then. Amazing what horrors the world hadn't heard of back in January 2001, and what came up on an Internet search instead: September 11 Attacks Paris Hilton Enron Scandal Dancing With the Stars Sarah Palin And what wonderful things had yet to come: Obama 2008 2004 Red Sox Wor... More ...

Concerning last week's VP debate... I found these comments on my last post and felt they deserved their own space. The comments were actually written before Lowry's ridiculous "starbursts" blog post... is Lowry reading CheapThrills?!? ;) From PDaddy - When Sarah Palin winked at camera, I felt she was winking right at me and my heart went all aflutter. Maybe it is a guy thing, but she really connected with me. I honestly cannot see why any red-blooded American man would not want her to be the ... More ...

I haven’t yet read anything from the spin room. I've only talked to a handful of people at length. So I thought this'd be the optimal time, before my mind gets totally corrupted, to give my short two cents on last night’s debate. Most importantly – Biden kicked ass. He was clear and straightforward, but also honest and gracious. When he spoke, I believed every word he said. Biden also showed tremendous restraint. I know that’s what he had to do, but man I really wish he had pounced on ... More ...

So this VP debate is coming up on Thursday. Quite frankly, I’m more excited for it than I was for last week’s presidential one. I think it's because Palin has been in debate “bootcamp” since last week, and I picture her standing in camo at a podium barking her answers at Beavis and Butthead’s gym teacher Mr. Buzzcut. That image brightens my day. But seriously, what's she learning at this so-called camp? One can only speculate… 1) Maybe they're convincing her that the picture she clai... More ...

It’s the last day of Summer but Fall colors are popping up. ... More ...

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Over the years I’ve used a bunch of tools for Getting Things Done, from the online service Tasks to Easy Task Manager to Midnight Inbox to iGTD to Outlook to, most recently, OmniFocus. The latter is clunky, fairly expensive and works only if you work to organize tasks, which in itself is a chore. Omni has a nice iPhone app (also expensive) but I’ve found that it’s too easy for tasks to be hidden in projects and contexts. And if you can’t see them you can’t do them. ... More ...

The Lizard Lounge is making it easy to figure out what to do in October. They’ve got an impressive line-up every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday throughout the month. On Tuesdays it’s Session Americana, unplugged and in the round. Wednesday it’s The Dennis Brennan Band with special guest Jennifer Kimball. If Tom Waits had more rock and soul, he’d sound like Dennis Brennan. And then on Thursday nights in October it’s Bill Janovitz and Crown Victoria. You might rememb... More ...

Boston Pop Underground organized an excellent Fall Residency for Mike Viola at the Lizard Lounge. The third night was especially fun with Mike’s old band the Candy Butchers reuniting for an evening plus special guests Lori McKenna and pop star and actress Mandy Moore. That was a lot of awesomeness to squeeze into a club that fits 105 people. Mike is moving to Los Angeles and is working with Mandy on her next album. But before that all happens, his cohorts Ducky Carlisle and Bleu are joinin... More ...

Rose Polenzani celebrated the release of her new album “When The River Meets the Sea” with two shows at the Lizard Lounge on September 25th and 26th. I’ve been listening to Rose’s music since her first album “Dragersville” was released ten yeas ago; but this time around she outdid herself. Rose invited her music collaborators Session Americana on the recording. My favorite song on the new CD is “If I Could Hit You.” Buy the new music on her website... More ...

OCTOBER EVENTS AT HISTORIC FOWLE HOUSE ANTIQUES APPRAISAL, October 22 Bring your antiques and collectibles to the newly restored 1772 Edmund Fowle House* on October 22, 2008 at 7PM for appraisal by Kaminski Auctioneers of Beverly, MA. Donation is $10.00 per item, or $25.00 for 3, with proceeds to benefit the Historical Society of Watertown. You may bring small items (excluding coins, stamps, and musical instruments) as well as photographs of large items for appraisal. Space is limited so pl... More ...

Here are the details ... More ...

The 10th Annual Watertown Faire on the Square is this Saturday, September 27, 10 am - 4 pm at Saltonstall Park in Watertown Square.  I am especially looking forward to it because my classic rock band, Ringin' in the Ears, will be performing on the Saltonstall Park Stage between 1:30 and 2:30 pm.  We are old timers, but we sure have a lot of fun playing.  We play a selection of Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, etc. - pretty much the greatest rock hits from the 60's, 70... More ...

Isn't the above quote the best reason for supporting Question 1? ... Switching political gears: Of course Obama would win the election if it was held today. But I'm with Mickey: 'Don't unpanic, Dems!' I'm surprised the election is still even close. ... BTW: Scroll up on Mickey's link. McCain should be hammering away at the split-power argument. ... ... More ...

Today is a sad day: It's the last time the Herald presses will hum and clunk at One Herald Square. There were a lot of choked-up good-byes on Friday at the Herald, as the weekday press shift said farewell and left the building for the last time. It's an end of an era. It's going to be strange walking past the ancient and abandoned printing presses tomorrow. I'm optimistic the Herald will be around for a while. But it won't be the same without the presses and the cast of characters who somehow ma... More ...

The average weight of Brockton High School's starting offensive line is now 262 pounds. Hub Blog has harped on this issue before, here and here: High-school football players are too damn big. They need weight limits. Their health is at risk. ... FYI: Hub Blog was the largest starting offensive lineman on my high-school football team many years ago. My weight then: 192 pounds. ... FYI II: Don't tell me weight limits, at any level, will hurt the game. John Hannah, one of the greatest offensive lin... More ...

Former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky (left), Lucie Brock-Broido, Nick Flynn, Martin Espada, Rhina Espiaillat and Regie Gibson are among the writers feature at the first-ever Mass. Poetry Festival this Friday through Sunday in Lowell. Also featured are workshops for writers and teachers, a small-press fair, literary heritage tours, events for children and teens and street poetry. Many events are free. Details: www.masspoetry.com/festival. (Flynn replaces Andre Dubus III on the schedule.) On t... More ...

All of Saturday's Beantown Jazz Festival events, which were outdoors, have been canceled. Tonight's concert at the Berklee Performance Center will go on as scheduled. ... More ...

Not that the season opener for the Boston Symphony Orchestra wasn't a superb night of music, but the big takeaway was...the windows. Uh-huh. The half-round clerestory windows along the top of the hall's side walls have been uncovered for the first time since World War II blackouts, cleaned off and replaced with acoustic glass. With the twilight sky thus visible, and some attractive lighting of the windows and the statues between them, the overall effect was a surprisingly meaningful opening-up ... More ...

Fri. Oct. 10The biggest band on the Cape - well,they certainly have a lot of players - is back at what used to be Toast and is now Precinct in Somerville's Union Square, Friday Oct. 10. It's the wild bunch known as the Chandler Travis Philharmonic. What gives the CTP its appeal? Says Travis: The Chandler Travis Philharmonic is a band that has grown accustomed to being detained. Their magical mixture of Ray Davies' steadfast provinciality, Charo's gelatinous combustibility and H... More ...

Fri. Oct. 17 Ted Drozdowski got hooked by punk and psychedelic music when he was a young guitarist; then the dirty Southern blues bit him and bit hard. He moved from Boston to Nashville a while back to continue with his (mostly) two-man blues project, Scissormen, which plays the Lizard Lounge Friday Oct. 17. Scissormen is steeped in Elmore James-like slide guitar and juke joint attitude. Drummer Rob Hulsman is the other full-time Scissorman; on the latest disc, Luck in a Hurry, guests include ... More ...

Fri. Oct. 24 What do you expect from The Who these days? The band was always a mix of power chords and introspection, aggression and mysticism, love and anger. Never easy to define, but a profound pleasure to follow from the beginning. I can offer a couple of things here. One, a review I did for the Boston Phoenix, which follows, and, an excerpt from an interview done one decade ago with guitarist-singer-songwriter Pete Townshend (left) with the Globe. The former should give you an idea where Th... More ...

On my way to the corner of L and Broadway this morning, I counted 3 different tow companies within 4 city blocks clearing cars away for street cleaning. (Which takes place on Tuesdays between 5 and 7 am.) I don't remember seeing the trucks before, and I have been going to early morning yoga for at least 4 Tuesdays in a row. They reminded me of sharks greedily swimming around fresh kill. Street cleaning is such easy money for tow companies... P.S. Getting up to go to the gym this mornin... More ...

While ordering my sandwich today, the guy behind me was visibly gagging as I gave my order. I thought about it, and think my order was pretty standard. ham, American cheese, mayo, lettuce, onion, pickles, & hot peppers on a chili wrapIs that weird? I don't think so... Someday, when I have my own sandwich shop, Alicia's Tasty Sandwiches, this will definitely be on the menu. The only ingredient I would add is black olives, which aren't an option where I bought my lunch. ... More ...

While on the train this morning, an older man with a cane and a foot cast entered our carriage at South Station. He didn't seem to be in much pain and quietly got himself situated by holding his cane in one hand and the overhead bar with the other. As soon as the train started to pull out of the station, the women sitting in front of where he was standing decided to take action. She shattered the train's dead silence by announcing, "I'm getting off at the next stop!" Then she got up from her ... More ...

Forget study abroad programs in London, Paris and Sydney. A growing number of Boston-area college students looking for jobs in the entertainment industry are making the trek to the Left Coast. The Los Angeles Times reports on the trend of East Coast schools sending their students over to the Los Angeles area and enrolling them into apprenticeships in TV, movies, music and advertising. Boston University and Emerson are leading the pack. In fact, BU has 67 students enrolled in the program this fal... More ...

Jessica Palette, a 23-year-old waitress originally from Bolton, Mass. now living in NYC, made the cut on VH1's new reality show called "Scream Queens." Presided over by judges James Gunn, Shawnee Smith and acting coach John Homa, "Scream Queens" gathers 10 up-and-coming actresses to vie for a break-out role in Saw VI from Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures. According to Palette's bio, she "has held down so many part-time jobs, quitting each one after only a few months work, that she's often afraid t... More ...

Geoffrey Schorkopf, a reporter with the Emory Wheel in Atlanta, has an interesting encounter with Mel Gibson while interviewing "Choke" director Clark Gregg in the lobby of Boston's Ritz-Carlton. According to Schorkopf, Gibson gives a colorful response when asked why he's in Boston. Gibson's quip: “[I'm] shooting a f--king movie, man.” The director, in the Hub promoting his "sex-addict dark comedy," has a past with the "Edge of Darkness" star. It seems that the duo starred in the 2002 flick ... More ...

Many people who live near and commute through Cambridge, Watertown, and Waltham have noticed potions of the essentially abandoned Watertown Branch railroad. Vanshnookenraggen PhotoBlog has an interesting series on the Watertown Branch, located here, which includes decaying train tracks, puddles, bridges, and oodles of neat graffiti.This whole line is easily accessible at various points, as it passes right through very active parts of the local community. Be sure to check this series out - it's q... More ...

I'd just like to let you all know that I haven't gotten "lost" in my explorations -- I've just been preoccupied with several projects. I'm currently working on a new site for myself as an artist. It will feature various photographs, prints, graphic art, writing, and other things I've done over the past several years. I'm excited for the finished product, but getting there is quite the task! I promise to have a new update this weekend, and thank you for your patience! For anyone running on Monday... More ...