Pinterest

There is a new internet sensation, perhaps you've heard of it? I, too, have been sucked into the obsession that is Pinterest. If you've never heard of Pinterest, it is an online pin board. Basically you sign-up to join. However, for some strange reason (that I don't quite understand), you have to be on a waiting list...unless you receive an invitation from someone already on it. (Odd social networking angle, but whatever. By the way, if anyone wants an invitation, leave your email addy and I'll let you into this exclusive club.) You can link it to your Facebook and follow friends to follow from there, lest you are afraid you will not know anyone to follow.

Pinterest (like Facebook) is, largely, a waste of time. However, it can be useful, too. (Like this gift wrap organizing idea--I actually went to IKEA and bought some of these.) If you see anything you like on the web--from quotes to pictures to music to whatever--you can "pin" it to your board and then your friends who "follow" you can also see it and re-pin it, or comment on it, or "like" it. So, it is a great way to get inspiration and ideas. But, it is also a time-sucking trap. Sure, it's one thing to look at something and say, "Neat!" and pin it; and it's another to look at something, say "Neat!", pin it, and actually MAKE IT or DO IT.

And, for this reason, I am not a very exciting person to "follow" on Pinterest. I could count on 2 hands the number of things I have pinned. I only pin things that I have made, am making, or have plans to make. This is why you probably won't see things like those little bite-size S'mores and homemade Samoa girl-scout cookies on my boards. Sure, it's interesting to know how to do it at home...but really, are you going to make them? I can barely get a dessert made from a box, let alone a 25-step process of making homemade cookies.

This is more my speed: Easy Banana Muffins. Nearly as easy as a muffin mix, it uses the over-ripe bananas that I often have sitting on my counter, and my kids LOVE them. Easy to change up, too, by adding cinnamon and cloves, or chocolate chips, or nuts. I will be honest, I have not tried them...but only because I have been doing a no-sugar/no-white-flour challenge. I am counting the days until I can try one, guilt-free.

Until then, the food porn that people keep pinning on Pinterest will have to do.