Sars,

I’m preparing to move from the United States to the UK to get my master’s
degree.I’d like to not have to buy all new appliances, so I’ve been
looking into various outlet converters/transformers, et cetera, and have found it
a bit confusing.I was hoping maybe you or your some of your readers that
have extensive experience with overseas travel could lead me in the right
direction, as far as what I need to get and what the best products are.

I
would need the equipment for my laptop (a Toshiba), and possibly for a hair
dryer, straightener, and clock; at the very least I need something for my
laptop as I could just buy UK versions of the other stuff.Thanks!

Clearly Not An Electrician

Dear Electrician,

I haven’t the faintest — the last time I was in Europe, I just used the native appliances and didn’t bring a converter — so let’s see what the readers have to say.

We need U.S./UK outlet converters, folks.Email subject line: “outlet converter.”

Hi Sars —

This is a very quick question, probably a good one for your readers. I
regularly dye my hair, and both my curly thick-haired roommate and I
absolutely adore the heavy-duty conditioner that comes with as a
reparative treatment. In fact, my roommate loves it so much that
unless I keep a very close eye on it, she viciously steals it…which,
considering how great the stuff is, I can really understand. It’s
super-rich conditioner, but it doesn’t make my hair heavy or oily,
just unbelievably soft and shiny, but it’s also rich enough for my
roommate’s much more demanding hair.

The specific brand I use is
L’Oreal Superior Preference, and I’m looking for a way, short of
stealing tubes out of the hair dye boxes in the store, that I can
replicate the experience. I’ve tried various drug store deep
conditioning treatments (i.e. V05 Hot Oil treatments — made my hair
gross — and John Frieda’s Radiant Redhead Color Hydrate Fade-Defying
Masque — which is fine, but not the conditioning Holy Grail I was
hoping for), but nothing has come close to the perfection of
dye-accompanying conditioner.I’m hoping your readers can help me
out!

Thanks!

Potential Hair-Care Criminal…

Dear Crim,

I don’t use conditioner anymore — conditioned hair won’t spike as well — and back when I did, I used the lightest possible kind, so I’m no help here.

Readers, we need heavy-duty conditioner.Please don’t send any old recommendation; the conditioner should be similar in nature to post-dye conditioning treatment, and suitable for color-treated and curly hair.Email subject line: “conditioner.”

Hi, Sars —

Last year when meeting my Bostonian boyfriend’s parents at Christmas, I was
confronted with a simple, seemingly innocent question: “So, do you have a
special holiday cookie you make every year?” I didn’t quite know what they
meant by that at first, but afterwards I realized it is the hallowed
Special Holiday Cookie, packed and delivered to parties and neighbors with
care, part of the holiday baking mysticism.

Now, I have a lot of complex recipes in my repetoire, but cookies, no. I
don’t know if it’s that I’m Floridian — Christmas traditions down here are
lax if they exist at all — but none of my Great Cook relatives make holiday
cookies either, so I can’t ask them for a tried-and-true recipe. My cookie
experience is mainly with the Pillsbury tube.

My boyfriend enjoys my cooking, and I don’t think he really cares one way or
the other, but I have heard him wax nostalgic about his friends’ wives’
Special Holiday Cookies. Granted, this is not the ’50s anymore, but I’m a
pretty competitive person, and I’d like to answer with a really kick-ass
cookie this year. I’ve pored through Gourmet magazine and various cookie
books and tested a bunch that looked fancy and tasty enough, but I haven’t
hit on one yet. So many cookies end up tasting too floury or the recipes
require shaping them individually with a teaspoon or something rabid like
that.

Alas, time is running out, as is my baking budget, and I wondered if you or
my fellow readers could point me to a source with reliable, tasty holiday
cookie recipes, or perhaps be willing to suggest one you use. I’m hoping
for something possibly with cinnamon and/or chocolate. Also, because I’ll be
flying up there and cooking in his relatively unequipped kitchen, the
recipe can’t be extremely complicated.

Thanks!

Not Quite Measuring Up In FL

Dear Measure,

My mother has a whole trove of holiday-sweets recipes, but…she’s in Florida right now herself and I think does not have them on site.I will inquire, but I can tell you that doing something a little different — a spiced pecan or a brittle — will get partygoers’ attention.

Readers, let’s see some recipes.They should be recipes you have tried, either making or consuming the finished product, and they should be links or easily searchable.Email subject line: “cookies.”

[11/17/06]

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