Label maker! Those are fun and really useful.

You guys, I am making such a good bolognese tonight. Prolly the best pot I ever made up to this point.

Label maker! Those are fun and really useful.

I now know what to get for my super-organized SIL (how she puts up with my super-unorganized brother, I don't know. But it isn't an issue. )

I would be psyched to get binder clips, a label maker, or a stapler in my stocking! Too bad I just hung up with my father, who was asking what I want for Christmas.

I love office supplies. I always get happy when I get the big Uline catalog in the mail because I'm a business.

Oooh! How'd you make the bolognese? I need to be able to make a good one.

Soldering iron for the 7yo, glue gun for the 4yo.

Scola, I love you man.

Oooh! How'd you make the bolognese? I need to be able to make a good one.

It's not a traditional bolognese, so I don't know if this is the good bolognese you need. It's more of a heavily tomato-ground beef sauce with sausage.

Slice up one spanish onion and a few garlic cloves and saute in butter in a large enough pot. When onions cook clear, add two pounds ground beef and cook on medium. Chop the beef together with the onion and garlic, but be sure to keep the beef as chunky as possible. At the same time, slice up a pound of Italian sausage and saute in oil. Add salt and pepper to the beef and some fresh chopped basil. When the beef is about halfway cooked, add two-three cans of chopped tomato (I used Del Valle San Marzano peeled tomato this time), one can tomato paste, one or two cans tomato sauce, one can chopped mushrooms (or fresh, it doesn't really matter), dry parsley, dry italian seasoning, a teaspoon of sugar, and the cooked sausage. Simmer on low for an hour; check after an hour and adjust the tomato ratio if necessary-- add paste if too thin, add sauce if too chunky/thick. Simmer another hour and you should be good to go. It makes enough sauce for about 8 servings; I freeze the extra.

TAR: I'll say this for Rob and Kimberly: at least they got over it pretty fast. But YIKES!

iPods of the Magi

I so very much want to see this ad campaign on the CTA trains!

Cindy, I'm afraid mr. flea now thinks you are a huge dork, too. The again, he says he was traumatized by always receiving socks and underwear in his stocking as a child.

Hey, at least nobody's calling me, "mr. flea." I was just afraid you'd get in trouble with the s-i-l.

My kids get a mix of stuff in their stockings. We put in fun stuff (little games, toys, stuffed), and candy, but also toothbrushes, mini notepads, and stuff.

Foohy erasers [link] were the big begged-for school supply last year (the scented kind--which trigger my migraines, and so have to be kept out of my nose's reach). Kids of that age love school/office supplies, tape, glue, glue sticks. They're not the same as underwear, because ouch.

Kids also love to get Band-aids in their stockings.

TAR: And I'm really glad the blonds legitimately lost, not even because of the penalty.