Hey, everyone! Nothing to see here. Just another Monday. Early spring. Springtime Monday! The flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping, the mice are freezing.

Wait…what?! OK. Won’t lie. We don’t really want to prank you, dear readers. We want to help you prank others on this practical jokiest of holidays. So how about learning how to make a computer mouse appear as if it’s busted? Or printing out some hilarious signs that you can attach to your car windows and confuse every passerby? Or what about a few simple computer pranks that you can pull on your friends? So many options! And it’s okay if you haven’t given today’s pranks too much thought, because these can be executed immediately.

Now get out there, pranksters, and make someone’s (your own, of course) day.

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Want lots more of the funniest, grossest, craziest, not-mean pranks on the planet? Check out Pranklopedia by Julie Winterbottom (her real name, we swear).

Sandra Boynton’s piggie knows how to celebrate with style.

You guys, it’s finally here! The most beautiful, mathematical time of the year: March 14th (3.14), otherwise known in the coolest circles* as Pi Day. Extra fun fact about this year? The date, 3.14.13, is also a palindrome. (We know. Mind blown.)

On this geekiest of holidays, fans of constant numbers like pi (which is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter**), celebrate the awesomeness of this magical number in, well, lots of different ways. Since we here at Workman love learning, math, and celebrations of all kinds, we’ve got some suggestions for how you can honor this very special day.

• Those of you who down-right love math can take a page out of Sean Connolly’s The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math and solve some of the most entertaining word problems ever (seriously). You want math-based stories about vampires, zombies, spy missions, and evil, scheming dukes who force you to play a do-or-die version of Let’s Make a Deal? Of course you do! Well, this book has got ‘em.
• For the competitive, but less mathematically inclined, why not head over to RecordSetter and set (or create) a new world record involving pi? We just know one of you wants to take on the “Most Digits Of Pi Recited While Blindfolded And Spinning A Dreidel” record.
• Or, you can, as some of us have done in years past, enjoy a slice of pie. Delicious and thematically appropriate.

Now get out there and do something pi(e)-themed!

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* Pun totally intended.
** But we’re sure you already knew that, you geniuses you.

It’s 3/14, so you nerds know what that means: It’s Pi Day*! We here at Workman love anything that brings out our geekiest sides, so we’re celebrating this most mathematical of days with the release of The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math by Sean Connolly. If you want to make middle school math fun–really, it’s possible!–you need this book.

Let’s say a vampire has moved onto your block, and every month he feeds on two people in your town, turning them into vampires. One month later, he and the new vampires are all capable of turning two more people into vampires—a pattern that continues until some brave individual intervenes. Approximately how many months will it take for your 500,000-person town to become populated entirely by blood-sucking fiends if they’re not stopped?

Did we just ask a word problem about a vampire invasion? Yeah, we did! If you want more life-or-death scenarios, this book has got ‘em, including questions about killer tornadoes, deadly spiders, lethal lasers, and out-of-control asteroids.

Now, if you’ll excuse us, it’s time to solve circumference problems while eating varieties of pie. A perfect Pi Day? We think so.

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*3.14 are the first three digits of pi, of course!

It’s Leap Day! That magical day that comes only once every four years, when we get to make up for the fact that it actually takes the Earth 365 and a quarter days to revolve around the sun by tacking a whole extra day onto the end of February. (Happy birthday, Jerry Gergich!)

In keeping with Leap Day tradition, we here at Workman are celebrating by:

1. taking leaps—i.e. doing things we wouldn’t usually do.
2. taking leaps—i.e. jumping over one another like frogs.

But—sorry—we’re not about to show you footage of us leap frogging around the office. So instead, check out these champion Leap Froggers! Eric and Ryan Buffet of Aiken, South Carolina, broke the world record for Most Tandem Leap Frogs in 30 Seconds. The previous record, set by two unknown jumpers at Burning Man, was 25. We think Leap Day William would be proud!

To read about more amazing records, pick up a copy of The Record Setter Book of World Records. And to find more records that are just itching to be broken, visit RecordSetter.com.

Dear Yesterday’s Love,

We feel your pain. Valentine’s Day can be full of unwelcome sappiness and anguish. Who are you, fat flying archer baby, to force love upon the lonely, the single, the freshly dumped?

Nevermind those ruddy cheeks. We have an excerpt from the perfect book to cheer you. Dear Old Love: Anonymous Notes to Former Crushes, Sweethearts, Husbands, Wives & Ones That Got Away is here for you to confide in, to let you know that it could have been (much, much) worse, or, if you’re in the throes of romance, to remind you how lucky you are.

Here are some wise words–funny and bittersweet and sad–from those who survived to tell the tale. Get ready to ease that heartache.

The Real Ending

Dear Old Love,
I knew it was over when…

• the back rubs tapered off to one every three years.
• you got back into the car with all that beef jerky.
• you used the recession as an excuse to stop going to the movies.
• you said the secret to a long marriage was freedom.
• you got the call about your father. I’m not good with bad times.
• you started secretly making copies of my recipes.
• you claimed to have outgrown dirty limericks.
• you no longer looked me in the eyes on video chat.
• you quit straining the pulp from my orange juice.
• I saw his silver Audi in front of your place. Good-bye, and thanks for slumming.
• you gave up cunnilingus for Lent.
• your mom yelled at me for not knowing who Rebecca from the Bible was. With the way she was talking I thought this Rebecca was a neighbor of yours.
• you had a second kid. Through marriage and kid #1, I figured I still had a shot.
• you stopped being real and started being polite.
• I started living vicariously through your infidelities.
• you didn’t pay for my dinner. For the two-hundred-and-fiftieth time.
• you stopped hoisting me up onto your shoulders at outdoor concerts.
• you quit wanting to coordinate our Halloween costumes.
• you wept and said you no longer loved me.

But, Alas…

Dear Old Love,
I only regret…

• that we turned back before we got to the Grand Canyon
• haranguing you about wearing jeans too often and dresses not often enough. (Still–wear more dresses!)
• my refusal to accept your leaving with dignity and grace, even if pouting and rage have their own grace.
• comparing you to all those main characters in Billy Joel songs.
• balking on our trip to India.
• having an affair when I didn’t even like the other one that much.
• that I made you turn off the lights the last time.
• portioning out sex like you were a dog in need of treats, even if you were a dog in need of treats.
• not mercy-killing our marriage sooner.
• saying “Don’t flatter yourself!” so many times during our breakup.
• not seeing the look on the next sucker’s face when he finds out.
• asking you how you got your burn.
• being too timid to do Ecstasy with you. Now I know–you’re never too old.
• not enjoying your tantrums when I had the chance.
• we were not sixty years older when we met. Our age difference would seem negligible, plus you would not be able to get away so easily.
• turning you on to yoga, and yoga instructors.
• my last five drunken e-mails.
• not ceding control of the remote more often.
• being able to dish it out but not take it.
• not recognizing how ahead of your time you were.
• never letting you see me cry.

Don’t you feel better? Now maybe it’s time to take up archery for yourself.

Who: Brooklyn artist and Missed Connections author Sophie Blackall
What: A Love-in-Transit Party
Where: New York Transit Museum
Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn Heights
When: Tuesday, February 14, 6–8 PM
Why: Valentine’s Day!

(Click the flyer below or right here for a larger version.)

Sophie Blackall is an illustrator and author who lives in Brooklyn. Her latest book is Missed Connections, in which she illustrated the most intriguing “missed connections” listings that she found on Craigslist.

P.S. Hey commuters: Have you seen Sophie’s beautiful art in the subways yet?

Who: Brooklyn artist and Missed Connections author Sophie Blackall
What: A Love-in-Transit Party
Where: New York Transit Museum
Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn Heights
When: Tuesday, February 14, 6–8 PM
Why: Valentine’s Day!

(Click the flyer below or right here for a larger version.)

Sophie Blackall is an illustrator and author who lives in Brooklyn. Her latest book is Missed Connections, in which she illustrated the most intriguing “missed connections” listings that she found on Craigslist.

P.S. Hey commuters: Have you seen Sophie’s beautiful art in the subways yet?

When you think of Hanukkah nosh, you think latkes: delicious fried potato pancakes with dollops of apple sauce or sour cream. But did you know that jelly doughnuts, known as sufganiyot, are a traditional Hanukkah treat in Israel? Follow the recipe below from Judy Bart Kancigor’s Cooking Jewish to make about 3 ½ dozen of these popular pastries:

Pnina Shichor’s Sufganiyot

(jelly doughnuts)

½ cup plus scant 1 cup warm water

(105 to 110 degrees F)

3 packages active dry yeast

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs, beaten

5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

Canola or corn oil, for frying

Jam (any flavor)

Confectioner’s sugar

1. Preheat the oven on the lowest setting for 15 minutes, and turn it off.
2. Pour the ½ cup warm water into a very large (at least 6-quart) bowl. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve it. Then add 1 teaspoon of the sugar, stir, and set the mixture aside until bubble, 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Stir the scant 1 cup water, salt, oil, remaining sugar, and eggs into the yeast mixture. Add 3 cups of the flour, and mix. Gradually knead in the remaining flour until the dough is spongy and elastic but still feels slightly tacky. Remove the dough and oil the bowl (no need to wash it). Turn the dough in the bowl to coat it all over with oil, and loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
4. Let the dough rise in the turned-off oven until it nearly reaches the top of the bowl, about 2 hours.
5. Punch down the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is ¼-inch thick. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter or glass, cut out the rounds of dough. Place the rounds on a baking sheet and set them aside to rise, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
6. Pour oil to a depth of 1 inch into an electric frying pan (preferred), deep fryer, or large, heavy skillet and heat it to 365 degrees F.
7. Dip your fingers in flour, and lift up a round of dough. Move it back and forth between your two middle fingers to stretch the center of the round quite thin without tearing it. This will be the depression for the jam.
8. Quickly drop rounds in the hot oil, depression side down—a few at a time, without crowding. Cover the pan and fry until the doughnuts are golden brown but not dark, about 30 seconds. Quickly turn them, cover the pan, and fry until the other side is golden brown, 30 seconds more. Drain the doughnuts on both sides on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining rounds of dough.
9. Fill the depressions with jam, and dust the doughnuts with confectioners’ sugar. These are best when eaten warm. They don’t keep well, but no matter. You won’t have any leftovers.

It’s that time of year again—time to break out the tinsel and the holiday sweaters and, of course, the cookies! Yesterday was the Workman holiday party, and we really pulled out the stops. In addition to gifts under the tree, a rockin’ holiday band, and a record-breaking dance number (more details soon…!), the party also saw the return of a favorite holiday tradition: the annual Workman cookie swap.

A very small sampling of the many desserts at the party

What is a cookie swap, you ask? It’s just that: a swapping of cookies. Partygoers whipped up a batch of their favorite cookies—often, you probably won’t be surprised to learn, out of a Workman cookbook—and then laid them out for display. Then everyone who brought in baked goods could put together a sampler of all the other cookies they wanted to take home. And even those of us who didn’t make anything were allowed to try a few—you know, in the generous holiday spirit and all.

This year the edible offerings were as great as ever, with cookies running the gamut from peanut butter thumbprints to chocolate whoopie pies. Among the many highlights were treats from two of our favorite cookie books: Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunch Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich and Lauren Chattman’s Cookie Swap! Below, check out (on the left) some Snickerdoodles from Chewy Gooey and (right) some Chocolate Peppermint Dirt Cookies from Cookie Swap!, lovingly baked by Workman employees.

xxxxx           

Gearing up for your own holiday party? Whip up a plate of delicious ginger cookies from Artisan’s spectacular Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy and you’re sure to wow all the holiday revelers you know; the recipe’s below. (And keep scrolling for a few choice shots from the party!)

Partygoers mingle and jingle.

Red-and-green peanut butter thumbprints (!!)

The Reprints---Nancy (at the back on the spoons), Erin, Liz, Bob, David, Jeanne, and Mike (below)---rock out.

No keyboard? There's an app for that.

Donated gifts under the tree---and Cheryl and Griffith Day of "The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook" on top!

Happy holidays, from our family to yours!
—Avery

The brand new edition of 1000 Places to See Before You Die makes great reading any time of year, but during the holiday season, there’s the added magic of imagining all the places around the world where you could be celebrating Christmas.  Here are five destinations from the book where you might be especially excited to find yourself on December 25th:

1. You could journey to Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland the gateway to Finnish Lapland and the closest a kid can get to the North Pole he or she’s always pictured.  Marvel at the elves’ toy factory and the 700,000 or so letters from children that wind up here each year.
2. All over Germany and Austria, Christkindlmarkts host carolers, baked goods, and old-fashioned (as in, Medieval) Christmas spirit.  Nuremberg and Dresden’s markets are the oldest in Germany, while Munich’s is one of the largest.
3. For the diehards, don’t rule out a pilgrimage to Bethlehem in the Palestinian territories, where a 15-point star in the Grotto of the Nativity marks what is thought to be the site of Jesus’s birth.
4. Stateside, Christmas in New York City wouldn’t be complete without the gigantic tree in Rockefeller Center, twinkling beside (and towering above) a small ice rink where you can rent skates.
5. Like the Rockefellers with Rockefeller Center, we have the Vanderbilt family’s largesse to thank for The Biltmore, an Asheville, North Carolina estate (built in 1895 and still the largest private residence ever built in the country!) that now houses an inn as well as extensive holiday festivities, including visiting choirs, candlelight tours, and crackling fireplaces.

Read about all these destinations, along with hundreds more for the other 364 days of the year, in Patricia Schultz’s book, now in a full-color second edition.