I finally learned how to make his favorite

Gorgeous turtle cheescake

[which didn't even crack, thank you very much]

January 17

bringing it back

scenes from a family dinner, in which the participants discuss the idiosyncrasies of acapella singing:

Me: We're definitely not short on the joy in our singing here. We "fly away" on a regular basis. Its nice, though, the joy.

The Boss: Yeah, at least its not the other extreme. [deadpans, straight-faced and monotone] Praise the Lord. Thank you, Lord.

Motha!: Please! Sometimes I can't keep myself from gettin' down. I just hope people around me don't make fun of the way I sing. I don't use the suggested notes. I pick my own notes.

Brother Robby: I've decided that you get to pick someone that you sound like to God. When you sing, He actually hears the other person. I picked John Mayer.

Husband: Hey, I do that, too!

Motha!: Yeah? Who are you?

Husband: [sheepishly] Justin Timberlake.

There are other seasonings, Monica.

I grew up in a family that ate garlic cloves like Lifesavers. My mom put garlic in everything. The smell of garlic is like my own personal happy place.

Apparently, not everyone loves it as much as I do. Greg reacts to garlic like a vampire. [Vampire? Doesn't garlic kill vampires? Did I make that up?] He'll walk into our apartment as I'm making dinner, which always involves sauteeing garlic, and turn right around and walk back out. He teases me about my tendency to put garlic in everything. Seriously. There is nothing that wouldn't be a little bit better with some garlic in it.

So we're make hamburgers on my new grill pan [thanks, Motha!], and I decide to make some homemade fries. Because I'm an overachiever. I got a recipe for homemade fries that you toss in olive oil, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and [you guessed it] garlic. THEY. WERE. AWESOME.

When Husband came home, he immediately tasted the fries. "They're good," he says. "What's in them?"

"Rosemary, red pepper flakes, and garlic."

"You couldn't go ONE meal without garlic."

"Don't worry, its in your burger, too."