Just shrieked down the stairs to Himself, "THE PECKERWOODS ARE BACK!" because the dogs and I had seen a Dryocopus pileatus in the woods. It's been a long winter, okay?

#INeedANap

Hello yes, I'd like to meet this person

Hear me out: Working dogs, but for the 21st century. I don't need any sheep rounded up, but something that could make beds or take out the trash would be a damn' sight more useful than these two shedding behemoths who keep trying to herd me into the library.

The whole country is holding its breath today, trying to be conscious of any good left of the old world as we count down to whatever chaos starts tomorrow. Guess you could say we're . . .

TIMING OUR BIDEN

Is this German for "half-arsed?"

I have . . . questions.

Obligatory crappy cell-phone-camera photograph of Outer Space:

Part 3

Adding fat to flour inhibits the formation of gluten strands in the dough - they end up shorter, which makes the final product softer and more brittle (see also: "shortening").
And there you go!

Part 4

PS - "Falling short" doesn't mean you crumble before you get to the finish line - it's an archery term. But I like the way your mind works

Part 2

Though they didn't know it at the time, those primitive Prues and Pauls were also describing the chemical process that MAKES the cookie crumble! Shortbread cookies are made using entirely unreasonable amounts of butter.

Part l

Himself asks me every year why they call it shortbread. Buckle up.

Way back in medieval days, "short" meant crunchy and easily crumbled. Eventually that word got applied to crunchy, crumbly baked goods. Easy enough. BUT:

Parps.

How old were you when you realized it was beat, boys, and not Beach Boys?