Sometimes life is just chock-a-block full of adventures… so much so that you either don’t have time to bake, or can’t seem to remember to bring the camera into the kitchen. Not to worry; I have another tasty post up my sleeve, which should be up in days flat.  But…

Some days I just feel fancy.  Sometimes I wake up and make pancakes for breakfast, even though I’m the only one at home.  Sometimes I wear a dress and heels to work, even though jeans and flats are allowed.  And sometimes, though I know I’d be satisfied with a quick…

I’m going to let you in on a deep, dark secret.  When I was in grad school, in a program focused on nutrition, local food, good farming practices, and the like, I could not let any of my classmates know about this.  Maybe several of us shared this secret in…

  Conversation One “Thank you for calling [retail establishment] Men’s, this is Jesi.” “Yeah, I’m looking for a particular blouse in a size 4.  Can you tell me if you have it?” “Oh!  We’re actually a men’s store.  I can give you the number for women’s, if you like.” “But…

Valentine’s Day was this week.  Were you aware?  If you have Facebook—and I find it highly unlikely that you’d have somehow found your way to my baby blog but not to Facebook—you probably found your news feed swarming with statuses berating V-Day for being a gimmick created by card companies…

I lost my job recently.  I had been aware for a while that times were tough, that the economy was bad, that meaningful work was hard to come by… but there’s nothing quite like job loss to drive that point home. On the day I was let go, I came…

According to Martha Stewart’s Cookies, “Children love these two-bite treats.”  Umm, what are you trying to say, Martha?  That there’s something childish about taking a perfectly good batch of cookies and sticking your thumb in each and every one of them?  That only kids would be interested in filling those…

Let me be honest—this bread was the biggest pain-in-the-butt project I’ve taken on in a while.  Baking with yeast can be really fun, and thanks to the stop-and-go nature of it, it’s great to do while you’re also working on other things (like writing cover letters and applying for every…

Don’t you hate it when you’re out and about, minding your own business, and you run into that one person you just did not want to see?  I imagine everyone has people like that in their lives: good people, probably, but… just not people you want to see or talk…

I don’t want to pretend that this is an age-old family dish that I’ve been eating as long as I can remember, or that it reveals some truth about my life and my past.  Sure, I grew up eating grits pretty regularly, and just the knowledge that grits are iconically…

Quick!  Pop quiz. What is the best way to a woman’s heart? A. Flowers. B. Chocolate. C. A Teddy Dog. D. A chef’s torch and a bottle of butane. Ok, so the answer is technically “all of the above.”  Presents are sweet, no matter what they are.  But my boyfriend…

How do you feel about raw seafood?  Yes, sushi is pretty tasty.  But that’s not what I meant… Say what you will, but nothing says comfort food to me like a dozen raw oysters on the half shell, with a tiny bit of of hot sauce dabbed on top.  Or…

If you’ve taken a stroll around the internet recently, you’ve probably noticed that food is pretty hot right now.  Generally, I’d say people are always pretty keen on food, but these days, everyone’s talking about it.  Everyone has a food blog (or follows a few)—and good lord, have you SEEN foodgawker?  What…