they're alive

Gardening is not for those individuals who don't like angst and sweat. 

You spend days wondering if your carrots are going to take off or survive or die or get eaten by rabbits or trampled by dogs, and then, when they do grow, you spend days wondering why you thought it was a good idea to plant them in the first place, because now you're sitting outside on black dirt in the heat of July pulling weeds, when you could be buying carrots for 99 cents at the air-conditioned grocery store. 

Like I said, angst and sweat. 

easy holiday pear and pomegranate salsa

Let's face it: We like to eat our way through the holidays. Growing up, Christmas was just a chance to move from meal to meal to meal with church and presents and family members sandwiched in between.

On Christmas Eve, it was chili and cheese and crackers and veggie platters and cookies and fruitcake. 

On Christmas morning, it was a delicious pastry and hot chocolate. 

For Christmas brunch, it was bacon and biscuits and grits and eggs and cinnamon rolls. 

On Christmas Day evening, it was gut rot.