BAKE THINGS: Did you read Seattlest Rachael's bomb recipe for molassas cookies earlier this week? They include cardamom, which is an inspired stroke of spice. Today could be your day to try a batch of those. On Sunday, we made Orangette's nutmeg doughnut muffins, and we can highly recommend that recipe as well. Make sure you'll have a few people around to help you consume them, though--those balls of goodness are dense and rich. If you have oranges around (it's Christmas... who doesn't have oranges around?), consider adding a teaspoon or two of orange zest to them. more ›

Meteorologists are predicting heavy snow this Friday for north King County and the mountains, and if that isn't worthy of an exclamation point then we're not sure what is! Snow means, of course, sitting inside with peanut butter hot chocolate and thinking dreamy philosophical thoughts about individuality (snowflakes, etc.) or James Bond (On Her Majesty's Secret Service). It means reading Snow by Orhan Pamuk, A Winter's Love by Madeleine L'Engle, or The Winter Of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck. more ›

So Starbucks is again trying to jump into the hot chocolate market, following the failure of their indulgent Chantico drink. Today they start selling "Signature Hot Chocolate" (along with salted caramel and hazelnut versions). But a recent walk down and around Queen Anne Avenue revealed a number of other options for drinking chocolate. more ›

So you just realized you have less than a week to turn out some swanky gifts for your particular (and we mean picky) friends and family. No need to panic, dear procrastinator, Seattlest has gathered together some ultra-hot and well-designed gifts, available at local shops, that are sure to please. more ›