I've been a bit of an evangelist for tonka beans for some time. I love the scent and the taste, and I don't agree with the FDA's decision to ban them from food. The Atlantic has an excellent article (The Tonka Bean: An Ingredient So Good It Has to Be Illegal) about the allure of tonka beans, and the [asinine] reasons they're banned from food in the US.

I'm aware as I write this how fortunate I've been. Nearly three years ago, I faced complete and utter disaster: personal, fiscal, emotional, social. The low points were too many to count, but I remember having to consider, seriously, options as drastic as executing a divorce against a comatose man in order to protect our home.

As I am beginning the process of packing up to leave, the irony of that previous statement is not lost on me.

It was one of those Clean ALL The Things weekends. (If you've never read the comic that inspired that statement, stop now, go read it, and then come back here.)

After a bench scraper, lots of bleach, elbow grease, and the passage of time, my kitchen is no longer a disaster zone. I had to resist the urge to lie on my countertops, to attempt to cuddle with them.

Thanks, esmerel! She taunts me from California with cupcakes I can't have unless i make one of these recipes: Smitten Kitchen's "chocolate whiskey and beer cupcakes" or "Chocolate Guinness Stout Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Bailey's Buttercream Swirl"

What's sad is that my brain doesn't know if it wants a beer or a cupcake.

Anthony Bourdain rails against the current crop of TV chefs and names names:

I gave the locals first crack at these, but they've had their turn and now it's yours.

I have large quantities of the following that are free to a good home:

• whole savory
• whole fennel
• whole coriander
• pickling spice
• whole black pepper
• ground cayenne pepper
• whole cumin

If you are interested, speak up.