Saturday Surfing

Finds of the Week:

Giant Chocolate-Toffee Cookies, Janae Monir — Oh my goodness.
It’s official! Pizza is a vegetable!, Food Politics — The word is out. Congress caved in under pressure from lobbyists on the school nutrition standards and pizza now counts as a vegetable. Just ridiculous. (And yet another reason for homeschooling — keep Nora as far away from cafeteria “food” as possible!)
Local Food Is No Small Potatoes: Farmers Rake In Almost $5 Billion, NPR The Salt food blog — It’s easy to think of local food as a diversion for people with plenty of time and money — something that could never be a major source of food in a globalized world. But the number $4.8 billion might change that perception.
Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961–2008, Census Report — The gems:

Paid maternity leave has risen slightly in recent years, but about half of all U.S. women still don’t have access to paid maternity leave
Some 51% of working women who had their first birth between 2006 and 2008 received paid leave (either maternity leave, sick leave or vacation). (That’s up slightly from 49% between 2001 and 2005 and from just 42% between 1996 and 2000.)
About 22% of first time mothers quit their jobs – 16% while they were pregnant and another 6% by 12 weeks after their child’s birth.

Performance artist gives birth in NYC art gallery, Wall Street Journal — Remember how I shared the link to the Bard alum who was planning to give birth in as gallery? Well, she had a successful birth last Tuesday, giving birth to a boy who was 21 inches long and weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces.
Teaching Good Sex, NY Times Magazine — More on this very soon.
Thanksgiving Centerpiece Crafts, One Charming Party — Cute and easy; turn candlesticks into candle holders