Good morning, it’s Monday. The first night of Chanukah is just three days away – so if you haven’t purchased your potatoes, your candles, your chocolate gelt and your presents, you better hop to it.
There are 21 days remaining until Christmas and 22 until Kwanza. If these are your holidays, there’s still adequate time to prepare.
I really enjoy working (mostly) from home. I am the master of my own thermostat. I have unfettered access to my own fridge and don’t have to worry about unscrupulous co-workers steeling (or accidentally misappropriating) my snacks. No one looks askance if I work all day in my sweaty gym clothes and eat oatmeal for lunch.
There are some things I miss about the office. The camaraderie at home is definitely lacking. Though the dogs do their best, they’re not really very good at small talk. It was also very convenient to be able to get a flu shot at work. I keep meaning to schedule mine, which shouldn’t be so hard since Walgreens is literally right down the street.
I also miss office snacks. The pot lucks. The leftover Halloween candy. The random items people were given by interview subjects while out on assignment and brought back to share. Election night pizza. And, perhaps what I miss most of all: Cookie exchanges.
Perhaps you find this odd, given my general – though not necessarily universal – aversion to sweets, or, at the very least, preference for savory items over sweet items. It is true that I was the skunk at the garden party who would bring “healthy” cookies make with bananas or applesauce instead of butter, stevia sweetened chocolate chips, chopped nuts, dates, or even sweet potato.
Needless to say, when the exchange ended there were usually quite a few of my passed-over offerings to take home.
I really enjoyed, though, seeing what my co-workers contributed and the creativity and time they dedicated to making their respective treats.
In my old office, the term “cookie” was very liberally interpreted, including everything from cheesecake squares, magic bars, and brownies, to cake balls, toffee squares, chocolate-dipped nut clusters and everything in between.
If you’re not familiar with a cookie exchange, by the way, it involves everyone bringing a treat and also a tin, and then going around the table and helping yourself to one of everything that strikes your fancy, providing you with a broad assortment of holiday goodies – the array of which would generally take a home baker many hours of labor in the kitchen to produce.
I know there are people who really groove on making their own cookie assortments, which takes a lot of time and energy. And there are SO MANY different varieties to choose from!
For a person like me who gets bored after a few bites, a cookie (or biscuit, if you’re on the other side of the pond) is the perfect sweet indulgence. The trick, of course, is sticking to the recommended serving size of just one or two.
Cookies appear to have originated as test cakes that bakers used to gauge their oven temperatures. This reportedly was the practice all the way back in 7 AD Persia (now Iran), which was one of the first countries to grow and harvest – and deploy in cooking – sugar cane.
The actual WORD “cookie”, however, is at least as old as the early 1700s, when, in Scotland, the term was used to describe a plain bun, rather than a small, flat, sweet cake. These treats reportedly showed up in New Amsterdam (now New York City), brought there by Dutch immigrants.
The Dutch, bless them, are very big into baked goods, and also brought to the Americas with them oleycoekes (doughnuts,) krullers (crullers,) wafuls, pan-cakes, and pretzels.
Today, we celebrate all things round (or not) and sweet (or not) and festive (most definitely). It’s National Cookie Day! Enjoy.
You’ll need a sweet pick-me-up to brighten your mood after the perfectly dismal weekend weather we’ve had. Today will at least be dry, though a shower of rain or snow is still a possibility. Temperatures will be in the mid-to-high 40s, and skies will be cloudy.
In the headlines…
Confusion and fear gripped much of southern Gaza yesterday as Israel’s military ordered more residents to clear out, sending people into the streets in search of anything that might serve as shelter two days after a cease-fire deal fell apart.
Israeli airstrikes hit about 200 Hamas targets in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said in an update today, a day after the IDF announced it was expanding its ground operations to the entire enclave.
Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants traded fire across the Israel-Lebanon border yesterday for the third consecutive day and Israel said several if its soldiers were hurt, following the collapse of a truce between it and Hamas militants in Gaza.
Israel faced mounting public pressure from the United States to do more to protect civilians, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the war “until we achieve all its goals.”
The U.S. government is making an intense effort to persuade Israel and Hamas to resume negotiations so they can once again pause hostilities and exchange more prisoners for hostages, a White House spokesman said.
The American warship USS Carney fought off an attack in the Red Sea yesterday as tensions in the region continued escalating during the latest Israel-Hamas war.
“We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available,” the Pentagon said, also referencing attacks on two cargo ships with reported links to Israel.
U.S. intelligence agencies had no knowledge of Hamas’ detailed plan of attack prior to the Oct. 7 assault on Israel — the subject of a recent bombshell report — a top White House official said.
The House could vote to formally authorize the GOP’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden as early as next week, according to Republicans leaving a closed-door conference meeting focused on the issue on Friday.
Speaker Mike Johnson said Saturday that he thinks House Republicans have the votes to launch a formal impeachment inquiry into Biden, insisting that such a move has “become a necessary step.”
Johnson talked about the impeachment probe at two Manhattan fundraisers, where he hauled in more than $1 million to help New York Republicans maintain and grow the GOP majority in 2024 congressional races, according to sources.
2024 Republican presidential hopeful and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned House Republicans about their ongoing impeachment inquiry into Biden, saying that GOP lawmakers risk getting distracted from addressing other issues facing Americans.
Trump tried to turn around anti-democratic allegations on Saturday during a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, accusing Biden and other Democrats of being a threat to the nation.
Trump, who faces felony charges over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, argued to a crowd of supporters that Biden was the one who posed a threat to US democracy and that his administration was full of “criminals.”
Muslim leaders from several swing states on Saturday descended on Dearborn, Michigan, to launch a national campaign against the reelection of Biden — a response to his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden hosted a reception in the the White House East Room for the 2023 Kennedy Center honorees: Billy Crystal, Renee Fleming, Barry Gibb, Queen Latifah, and Dionne Warwick.
Biden honored former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor after her passing in a statement Saturday.
Biden will head to LA next week for a big-dollar event that will be his first since strikes by writers and actors effectively ground his fundraising to a halt in the heart of the entertainment industry, which has long served as the ATM for the Democratic Party.
The event at the home of Michael Smith, a celebrity interior designer, and his partner James Costos, a former HBO executive who was Obama’s ambassador to Spain, is expected to raise millions and draw a celeb crowd. Rocker Lenny Kravitz is slated to perform.
House Democrats have rejected the White House’s months-long campaign to sell the term “Bidenomics.”
Divided government is common and often messy. But the current U.S. House of Representatives has had arguably the most tumultuous year in modern times.
The House on Friday voted to expel Long Island Republican Rep. George Santos over his many fabrications on the 2022 campaign trail and his two federal indictments.
Nearly half of the G.O.P. House delegation voted to expel Santos, a remarkable rebuke of a colleague who had survived two prior expulsion bids.
Santos in late night posts on social media pledged to file ethics complaints against several of his House colleagues after he was expelled.
Hours after his Friday expulsion, Santos wrote on X he’d be filing formal complaints today, beginning with Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island), who he suggested participated in “insider trading” — without Santos providing a shred of proof.
New York is a key state for House Republicans if they are to keep their majority in 2024, a reality underscored by Santos’s expulsion.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is in communication with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, state Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs and Rep. Gregory Meeks, the Queens County Democratic Party chair and others about a special election to fill Santos’ seat.
Within minutes of the historic vote to oust Santos, Hochul announced she would put in motion the process of scheduling a vote to replace him, which would take place in February.
Hochul has 10 days to schedule a special election, which must then be held 70 to 80 days after her announcement. Both parties expect a mid to late February vote.
The Democratic Party by mid-week will nominate a candidate to run in the special election early next year to replace Santos — and it’s all but certain to be former Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, sources said.
Hochul will deliver her State of the State address — her second as an elected governor — on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
A bipartisan group of New York legislators are asking Hochul to increase the minimum benefit of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to $100 across the state.
Hochul denied allegations that she retaliated against ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo accuser Brittany Commisso after the former executive assistant said Cuomo sexually assaulted her.
The Police Benevolent Association of New York State is again urging Hochul to sign legislation that would give their more than 1,000 members the ability to retire after 20 years and begin receiving a pension.
A new report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Winter Storm Elliott last December illustrates how perilously close parts of the Empire State came to being caught in a real-time climate emergency.
Before the mad dash to push for legislation that would move some local elections to even years, state Sen. James Skoufis reached out to Democratic elections commissioners across the state to highlight the bill and apparently seek their support.
Senior FDNY officials worried early on in the Adams administration about how the agency was asked to fast-track building safety inspections for politically-connected real estate firms over developers of projects like schools and housing complexes.
A City Hall order to fast-track fire safety inspections at a high-end Hudson Yards office tower forced officials to cancel reviews scheduled months earlier at two schools, multiple apartment buildings and a Baruch College facility, according to internal emails.
Though he’s been dealt a challenging fiscal hand by his predecessor and the City Council, as well as by the immense cost of the migrant crisis, Adams is developing a reputation for cutting core city services.
Sen. Comrie and Former Borough President Diaz: “When news of the federal investigation into Mayor Adams hit, it was met by New Yorkers everywhere with shock and concern. But in communities of color like ours, that concern quickly turned to skepticism.”
City Hall spent $297,568 in public funds last fiscal year on TikTok ads, long after the feds sounded the alarm over the Chinese government potentially using the app to sow discord in the United States.
City firefighters will be the latest group to protest Adams’ across-the-board budget cuts.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and her fellow GOP House members accused New York City of trying to stack voter rolls by trying to illegally register migrants housed at a Staten Island shelter to cast ballots in the upcoming elections.
Republicans are salivating to pummel Democrats in the 2024 elections for approving the controversial congestion pricing law that could force motorists to pay a $15 toll to enter Midtown Manhattan starting in May of next year.
Car thefts are accelerating at an alarming pace in the Big Apple.
New York City has largely recovered economically from COVID-19 — if researchers look at what’s happening in the outer boroughs, not just Manhattan’s business districts, a key Big Apple industry rep says.
Venezuelan flags, foods and accents are spreading along a stretch of Roosevelt Avenue in Queens as thousands of newly arrived migrants make their home in the city.
“Noise cameras” that detect souped-up cars, motorcycles and other loud vehicles are coming to a street near you. A new bill authorizing the cams, authored by Councilman Keith Powers (D-Manhattan), is expected to pass Thursday.
The head of the New York University Student Bar Association has been booted from the post for publicly blaming Israel for the Oct 7 terrorist attacks.
Thirteen people were hurt in a crash on the Long Island Expressway, according to the FDNY.
BMW is recalling some SUVs in the United States because the driver’s side airbag inflators can explode in a crash and send metal shrapnel that could injure or kill people in the car, safety regulators reported.
A miracle South Bronx high school football team overcame a practically insurmountable lack of resources to win the state championship game.
Millions of dollars are set to be poured into bringing a hybrid-electric ferry to Governors Island, in the city’s harbor. The new fer. which is expected to reduce the city’s carbon dioxide emissions by 800 tons a year, will help combat climate change, officials said.
A video shared with CNY Central shows Republican Rep. Brandon Williams berating a former staffer. The congressman’s office says it was in retaliation for vile comments made against his wife and daughter but others familiar with the situation are bewildered.
The president of a Catholic university in rural Pennsylvania is extending a possible lifeline to displaced The College of Saint Rose students days after the city of Albany institution announced it would be ending operations after the end of the spring semester.
Three countywide elected officials will get a larger raise than previously reported under new legislation before the Albany County Legislature.
Troy City Council President and Mayor-elect Carmella Mantello has been running literally and figuratively since she won the election race on Nov. 7 to be the city’s first woman mayor.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
