Today's letter is P. Z would have been a more appropriate letter to end the year but dude, it's too hard.

1. Positivity
In my case I think you'd call it cockeyed optimism. Or idealism. Or Rose Coloured Glasses Syndrome. No matter what amount of shite befalls me, I always seem to think of it as the story I will tell after I get the fabulous job, the child and/or the renewed sense of joy and fulfillment.

2. Pumpernickel
My German heritage introduced me to this bread at a very early age. I might also attribute it to my enjoyment of a wide array of such flavours, (especially in my beer). The etymology gives me a giggle, too; "Pumpen" was a New High German synonym for being flatulent, a word similar in meaning to the English "fart", and "Nickel" was a form of the name Nicholas, an appellation commonly associated with a goblin or devil (e.g., "Old Nick", a familiar name for Satan). Hence, pumpernickel is described as the "devil's fart".

3. Passata
Italians don't always make every pasta sauce totally from scratch. They often start with a bottle of "passata". Passata is sieved tomatoes; tomatoes that have been skinned, then passed through sieves to remove the seeds and to crush the tomatoes. Passata isn't cooked but rather sauced tomatoes ready to go for whatever you need. And I need them for my homemade Linguine with Meatballs. It's loosely based on a Nigella recipe and other than a huge bowl of Easy Mac, it's one of my Top Five comfort foods. My favorite passata is mushroom, in part because I can feed it to two of my nieces and they don't even throw a hissy because they can't see actual pieces of the offending cremini mushroom. Which is actually an immature portobello, by the way. In fact, savvy marketers have begun to refer to crimini mushrooms as baby portobellos. Left to grow another 48 to 72 hours, a crimini mushroom will more than quadruple in size, taking on that distinctive portobello shape. (Ain't teh internets grand?)

4. Poppy jasper
While the first beads I was ever given were antique, lampworked with tiny flowers, the first beads I ever fell in love with were jasper. I love the look, the sheer variety of colours and patterns and I love how they come to be. They're not unlike me, really; flow patterns in sediment or volcanic ash are saturated with silica, causing bands or swirls in the rock, resulting in jasper. It becomes fractured and distorted as it forms, later rebonding into discontinuous patterns or filling in with other materials. My discordant life has created a damaged adult, but I hope the important people in my life can see the beauty in my fragmentation.

5. We have a piper down, I repeat, a piper is down!
If you're unsure of the origins of this, you're emotionally scarred and will end up badly. That is all.

6. Presents
Well duh.

7. Piping
Confectioner's Decoration was my choice for the Skills portion of my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Program. I ate a ton of icing but also developed a lovely skill that still manages to impress to this day. For those who don't know, piping is extruding icing through a series of nozzles to decorate baked goods.

8. Printing
Ever since Grade 10, when I chose not to take another Science (thanks Mr. Eedy) and instead chose Mechanical Drafting, I've lettered my life. Script is reserved for greeting cards and book cover inscriptions. I like how it looks; it's less flowery and easier to read.

9. Panzerotti
The original pizza pocket, I get mine twice a year from a place where the service sucks but the quality of the dough and the mozzarella are unsurpassed. For many years, my birthday was held at Mario's where I indulged in a medium panzerotti with cheese and mushrooms. The sauce belongs on the outside and there should be an ice cold Brio to my left.

10. Pyro
My sister used to work for a pyro company. It was through her that I learned about all the cool things you can do with science; for a brief time, I was almost disappointed that I'd bailed out of science in high school so early. Then I remembered that I'd probably still be in high school if I were expected to pass chemistry, physics or some horror such as biology.

This has been my final, informative Holidailies entry.

Posted at 10:58 a.m.