The Weekly Wrap: December 14, 2025

Friday was my prep day for our annual holiday party. This year, I had some use it or lose it leave so took the day off. Instead of spreading my prep baking and chopping across the entire week, I saved it all for Friday. This is both good and bad.

The bad is that it's a looooong day of work. I'm on my feet for hours, washing my hands constantly, and trying to keep all the recipes in order as I multitask. (Thank goodness for the white board on the fridge and our Alexa. They help me ensure I'm not burning anything.) Plus, I take over the entire kitchen. Every surface is covered with  pans and bowls and ingredients and finished products. Inevitably, I get flour all over the place (thanks, scones!) and we just had our place professional cleaned so that makes me pout. By the end of it all, my body is physically tired and my mind is fried.

But, I kind of love days like this. I queue up a whole bunch of podcasts and just go head down on what I need to tackle. I feel super productive, I get to nibble deliciousness throughout the day, and it's enjoyable to see it all come together. And, that physical soreness at the end of the day almost feels good.

The only weird quirk I have is that I have to force myself to eat lunch. I always want to power through and finish and use lunch (and the sitting that comes with it) as a reward. But that's not a good idea because lunch would be at 4pm and I would be hangry. This year, whilst something was in the oven and two other recipes were chilling in the fridge, I made a sandwich I ate while standing up. It wasn't gourmet by any means, but it kept me energized to finish.

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• What did it feel like? [The Atlantic - gift link]
• Spotted lanternflies are impacting the taste of honey. [WaPo - gift link]
• The AI boom is being built on debt. [The Atlantic - gift link]
• File this under things I didn't know happened but it makes total sense. [The 51st]
• The case for teaching your kid to talk to strangers. [The Analog Family]

• I need to rethink what I've already learned about rewilding. [Short Wave]​
• I'd try it. [Atlas Obscura]
• The office politics of the Supreme Court. [The Daily]
• A wonderful walk through Pride and Prejudice. [Throughline]
• Are we manifesting manifesting? [Science Vs]
• tl;dr - don't click that link! [Life Kit]
• If even half this story is true, this woman would still be legendary. [Noble Blood]

• Christmas on Duty is a mostly "Yikes!" entry in this year's Hallmark roster. Because, wowzers, with the obvious ad placements for USAA. Also, the production itself doesn't work. If there is so much snow as a main plot point, you at least have to try to make things look like a blizzard. Even bad green screen would have been preferable to the merely wet roads and single snow blanket they used. [Hallmark]
• I was pleasantly surprised by A Newport Christmas. This is the historical/time travel story of the year and it walks the fine line between charming and overly camp. That said, it only works because the heroine is the perfect amount of endearing. Without her holding it together, this one simply would not work. [Hallmark]

• For my lunch meal prep this week, I wanted to throw together something simple. Cheese tortellini with tomatoes and basil does require the use of both the stove and oven, but it's a mostly hands off recipe. When I tasted it as the recipe called for, it was good but I added a drizzle of balsamic to elevate things just a bit more. [Eating Well]
• Our holiday party is a brunch-ish event. One of the sweets I make are chocolate chip tea cookies. They hit the dessert mark but are small and shortbread like with reads far more "morning" to me. [Brown Eyed Baker]