In the past week, I have baked five different batches of cookies, two pies, and one panforte. I am going through bags of sugar like it's going out of style. I buy candied orange peel every time I see it in the store, because I can't seem to keep it in stock in my pantry.…

Are you, like me, thrilled every year when the time rolls around for the Internet to publish its Gift Guides, thereby lightening your load, getting your shopping done in one fell swoop, and making you feel creative, resourceful and thoughtful, even though you never left your desk? I find them to be such a relief…

It's been almost a year now since I got back to Berlin. Or since I left New York, depending on how you see things. I've been through a long winter, a short, hot summer, a fall that went by too quickly and now we're narrowing in on Christmas. I found a place to live, I've…