■
THE QUOTE
“The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point then the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.” — George Bernard Shaw
▲
UH, GEE, THANKS
Every year, someone who cares about you will give you a Christmas/Hannukah gift that you’ll never use. A gift, in fact, that you’d be embarrassed for the firemen to discover should your house go up in flames.
Surly Amy on Skepchick offered invaluable advice yesterday on what to do with a specific genre of such unwanted largesse.
Go Ahead, She Won’t Bite
■
A reader wrote in to S.A. asking what to do with all the old pseudoscience, self-help, and pop metaphysics books she’s collected through the years. She has the courage and moral fortitude to admit she once bought into the “ideas” presented therein but now is a devoted skeptic. So, what should she do with those old books?
The usual answer would be to donate or sell them but the reader won’t do that because she doesn’t want to spread these virus-laden items around.
Surly Amy canvassed creative skeptics and was able to offer some fab alternatives:
- Make an iPad holder
- Make a “book” shelf
- Create book art
- Fashion paper flowers out of pages and book covers
Voila: A “Book” Shelf!
■
Go to MadArtLab for more ideas on upcycling books and other fun projects.
Now you know what to do with those copies of Deepak Chopra’s big seller “Super Brain,” Michael Singer’s mega-seller “The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself,” or Rhonda Byrne’s old reliable “The Secret” that a well-meaning (albeit tragically misguided) soul might give you next week.
▲
THE JOY OF GORGING
Speaking of X-mas, here’s my tried and true Italian holiday cookies recipe. Make these and you’ll be the toast of the block.
They’re great for dipping and late night snacking. And they’re guaranteed to add inches to your waistline.
I mean, what else are cookies for?
Now then:
Big Mike’s Italian Holiday Cookies
- 5 cups flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 ½ sticks butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 heaping tsps baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
- Half a bag of unsweetened jumbo baking chocolate chips
◗ Mix flour, powder, and salt together. Put aside. In second bowl, cream butter and sugar. In third bowl, fork whip eggs and add vanilla and lemon extracts — mix well.
◗ Pour egg mixture into creamed mixture. Stir well.
◗ Add flour mixture gradually to creamed mixture, combining as much as possible with wooden spoon. Then work dough with your hands. Completed dough should have the consistency of clay.
◗ Refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat and set oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into 1-inch diameter balls. Place balls on ungreased, non-stick cookie sheets. Press thumb into center of balls to make lens-like discs. Place large, semi-sweet chocolate baking chip, pointy end down, into center of each disc. Bake for 12-17 minutes, until golden brown.
Eat and gain weight. Worry about your waistline next year.
▲
WOMEN YOU SHOULD KNOW
Recognize these names?
■
If not, why not?
▲