Even though there is currently six inches of snow on the ground, that number is rapidly shrinking. The sun is making more frequent appearances in a heartily blue sky. This is the *good* part of winter. Also good is the random appearance of raspberries and blackberries in Vermont supermarkets, because few things dispel winter gloom like freshly washed raspberries.

Yes, wash the raspberries, and all other fruits and vegetables for that matter. My Cognitive Neuroscience professor told us a horrible story about how her cousin was hospitalized with near-fatal meningitis (as if there's at least four other kinds) and eventually the contaminant was traced to unwashed melon. And so I wash garden foods thoroughly, every time, because when the zombie overlords come for my brain, I'd like it to still be sweet and pink and crisp, rather than green or blue and gritty. Although maybe that's a zombie delicacy, meningital brain, like Inuit cultures have muktuk, awks that have been stuffed inside a seal and buried in the snow. You only eat them after they rot.

What? Don't look at me, I'm a vegetarian.

Speaking of which, El Yo gave me Sinfully Vegan, above, for Valentine's Day, and oh it is a delightfully porny book of desserts. I cannot wait to start cranking things out. There's an entire section on cheesecakes which, you would have thought, would be non-existent in a vegan world. Also, making your cakes rise without eggs, which I consider to be a magic all its own. In this case it's not so much wanting to eat as few animal products as possible, as wanting to continue eating dessert but being healthy about it. Yes, if you eat an entire vegan cheesecake, you'll be just as fat as if you ate an entire regular cheesecake. Moderation. But it's nice to try to incorporate as many fruits and vegetables as possible and still eat things like, oh, I don't know, just at random:

• Hold-the-Wheat Carrot Cake
• Lemon Cheesecake with Blood Orange Sauce
• Swirled Raspberry Cheesecake
• Chocolate Caramel Boston Cream Pie

*cough* Maybe a couple of those are a little light on fruits and veggies.

Seriously though, I know there's a certain amount of trial and error bound to occur. For instance, I made El Yo vegan ginger snaps from a vegan recipe website, and thaaaaaat's one that'll definitely be stricken from the books. The other trick will be to find sweeteners that are better than refined white sugar. Even brown sugar's pretty bad, but there's got to be a way to rig up combinations of molasses and fruit juice or applesauce in a kitchen-MacGuyver-type maneuver.

Hmm. Reports to follow.
(Is it muktuk? I know the dish exists (or at least is referred to a great deal in This Cold Heaven) but I'm wondering if I have the word right.)

Meanwhile...

Dear Santa,

I know it's early n' shit, but holy mother of pearl.

Love,
Monster