Whoa, is it already December 19th?!  The holidays have crept up faster this year than ever before and I haven't even started making all the wonderful homemade gifts I'd been planning on.  My lofty goals of handknit scarves with matching hats and little oil paintings for all my loved ones are seeming more and more out of reach each day.  But I'm still all for homemade and filled with love - so what's a girl to do?  Thankfully, some of my favorite blogs are filled with inspiration for making excellent, creative gifts.

I don't know about you - but the words "potluck" and "cookie swap" incite my usually suppressed sense of competition and I suddenly become compelled to bring not only an amazing dish or dessert, but the most amazing dish or dessert. Our office cookie swap is coming early next week and I am panicked as how to make the most impressive, delicious, praise-winning cookies ever made by man, woman or Martha Stewart.

The holidays can be a stressful time on many levels - picking out the perfect presents, cooking large elaborate meals with the family and all the travel to get to your loved ones.  This week, we're featuring some sites that provide some great advice on how to keep things safe and stress-free.

This week, we've got a spring in our step and a silly grin on our face - could it be love? Perhaps, perhaps... but seriously, folks - we're just elated with the positive feedback we've gotten this week! You like us, you really like us!

Food and its obvious necessity to sustaining life has been a particularly hot issue this year with increased concerns about rising costs, safety and quality.  This week, we'd like to share with you two interesting projects that unveil aspects of the current state of food in the United States.  Let us know what you think!

Food Fight! Documentary

As a child, Halloween was my favorite holiday - an excuse to wear an outrageous outfit and walk around my neighborhood getting free candy - what was there not to love?  Sadly, I'm a few years past my trick-or-treating prime (though I still enjoy those crazy costumes!), but thankfully there are many bakers out there making sophisticated Halloween treats right in their own kitchens!  Check 'em out.

At Home with Kim Vallee

The distinct chill of fall is in the air and I've started engaging in the usual rituals of preparation for cold weather — unearthing my pullovers and sweaters and hypoallergenic comforter.  I'm cancelling items on my social calendar in favor of curling up at home with a pair of knitting needles and a few skeins of yarn.  And with all this newfound time at home, I'm dreaming of roasting butternut squash with sage, baking a silky cinnamon spiked

With the presidential debates drawing to a close this week and Election Day coming up, we're finding that everyone's got politics on their mind - and for good reason.  This week's featured read is from Michael Pollan who wrote a thorough and detailed open letter to our next 'Farmer-in-Chief' in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine's Food Fights! issue.  He encourages the US's next leader to bring the important issue of food quality and safety into the disc

Okay, we're cheating a little this week and perhaps this post would be better named "What We're Watching..." 'cause that's been the preferred method of media consumption this week. A friend of mine reminded me of some excellent TED | Talks that I'd encouraged him to listen to a few months back.

• Mark Bittman on what's wrong with what we eat

I think it's pretty safe to say that in these difficult economic times, we're all looking for ways to save a bit of money.  Thankfully, this doesn't mean completely changing your lifestyle.  Some of our favorite 'green' blogs offer up some very do-able, unique solutions for conserving cash.  Check out some of our favorite creative solutions:

Frugal Green Living: Save $1000 Using These 6 Tips