Wow, it’s hard to escape the bleak this week. Oddly, seems as though even last year we were all squaring our shoulders a bit, meeting an uncertain holiday with as much gumption as possible; together. At least we still had our holiday playlists, and vaccines were on the way.
This year, like many folks, I have no reserves left for gumption. The inside of my brain looks like that squiggly eye emoji. Social media only makes things worse, and public radio isn’t much better.
Anyway, somewhat listless apologies for the tone in this edition. I’ve rewritten this intro about 3 times and can’t get it to be any perkier. I hope everyone reading this is fully boosted, appropriately masked, and finds a way to escape the hysteria and uncertainty. Even if that’s just reading some dumb Internet article about bricks (below); or, you know, picking up a fun book. Or browsing Pinterest; which, yes, bias, but it really is the only place on the Internet that might lower your anxiety right now.
HAVE SOME SILLY LITTLE LINKS
In the spirit of holiday tradition, a couple of global favorites:
Decorating with Christmas spiders
The poetic, terrifying Mari Lwyd
Masonry is “having a moment” in NYC
Edinburgh’s public pencil sharpeners
Beautiful photographs of fireflies in a Japanese forest
WHAT’S A HOLIDAY WITHOUT SOME RANCH
Finding some leftover, still-good buttermilk in the fridge, I put it to use. I brined a chicken (fine), and made some ranch dip (excellent). I also had a bunch of herbs that were about to be on their way.
This variation mixes dry herbs with fresh and turned out great, but use whichever you have and taste it along the way.
INGREDIENTS
2 tsp., chives
1 tsp., dried dill
1 tbsp., onion powder
1 tbsp., garlic powder
1 tsp., salt
1 tsp., pepper
¼ tsp., mustard powder
Handful of fresh parsley
1 bunch of fresh basil, torn from stems
1 clove of garlic, sliced in half
½ cup, buttermilk
½ cup, sour cream
½ cup, mayonnaise (you already know we are a Duke’s household)
WHAT TO DO
In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients and pulse until smooth. Taste and add salt or more of the seasonings, as needed. Refrigerate for an hour or so, covered with Saran wrap, to thicken. Drink up!