Baby, It's Cold Out There, But It's Hot In Here

The Christmas season has faded to black and the year is coming to a close as we set in for the long, hard, cold winter. Allow me to warm things up this one last time in 2011 with a baker's dozen of our favorite man-size collages of the year.

For The First Time Ever, Wendy's Wollops The Whopper

In the battle of the fast-food chains, Wendy’s has surpassed rival Burger King in market share for the first time in history, becoming the No. 2 burger joint in the U.S., next to perpetual leader McDonald's.

Wendy's is expected to tally more than $8.4 billion in sales in 2011, for a 13.3% share, $50 million more than Burger King, with a 12.8% share.

This is in spite of Wendy's operation of 5,800 locations, far fewer than BK's 7,200. McD's maintains four times the sales of either of its meat-mates, with a 49.5% share and 12,804 franchises in the U.S. (Around the world, it operates 25,663 restaurants.)

According to Janney Capital Markets, Wendy's trumped Burger King with a focus on premium menu items, fresh foods and remodeled restaurants, propelling it as "a cut above rivals rather than a McDonald's clone." It also switched to Russet potatoes, leaving the skins on, sprinkled with sea salt. Being that french fries are God's perfect food, I'd say that's genius.

Based on the number of restaurants worldwide, the top 10 fast-food chains in 2011 are: Subway, McDonald's, Starbucks, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, Domino's Pizza, Wendy's and Taco Bell.

In other convenience food news, Heinz has redesigned its tiny, tough-to-tear ketchup packets, with "Dip & Squeeze" satchels shaped like mini ketchup bottles, which allow customers like me who love to add a gallon of ketchup to their fries to more easily dip into ecstasy. While perhaps not as as the iPhone 4S, that's still pretty damn keen. *

Post-Christmas Glow In Brooklyn

Tough love confession, because we're such good pals, cool cats. This was not the easiest Christmas... The joy of the holiday season was side-swiped by the fact that it's the first holiday without my spouse of the past 10 years. There were moments that called for a brave face and making the best of a situation that was not ideal. Surely, many of us have endured a similar state of affairs with the loss of loved ones...

Frankly, I'm relieved it's over... the innate pressure of making the season a joyous celebration, whether or not personal circumstances merit what habit tells us is expected. Today, I took a leisurely walk across the Heights Promenade, sans all that is Christmas, and exhaled... and for the first time, enjoyed the beauty of neighborhood, tourists soaking in the view, the decorations... including a stunning sunset and festive post-dusk lights along the future World Trade Center. *

I Had Myself A Merry Little Christmas

For the 2011 Christmas holiday festivities, pixie pal Leonard joined me in Brooklyn Heights Saturday night for a Cmas Eve throwdown. The evening started with a world class event indeed, cool cats: I treated Leo to a preview of the Taylor Top 40 for 2011, as he clutched tightly to Abby & Spencer, perhaps frightened by the fact that Beyonce, despite her typically shrill vocal signature, actually made the list. I guess that's what happens following a D-I-V-O-R-C-E... lots of damn break-up songs. (Full tally will be announced on The Smoking Nun Thursday!)

The countdown was followed with a din din feast comprising fresh turkey and fluffy homemade mashed potatoes, with chocolate & peanut butter ice cream for dessert, as we enjoyed a roaring fire in the apartment and, uh, unfortunately, chose to watch the much-hyped flick Bridesmaids... which seemed like a two-hour stream of consciousness ad lib with few big laughs. What a disappointment...

Christmas morn, Leo and I took a wondrous walk around the nabe with the doggies & prepped dishes for our afternoon celebration... and I'll be damned if we didn't misfire again, renting the Ewan McGregor & Christopher Plummer film Beginners, which could not have been more depressing... geez, who knew?

Finally, at 3, we joined neighbors & friends Tracy & John's for Christmas dinner, a lovely 10-minute walk away form home. Tracy cooked a delectable pork lorn, while I brought my mama Evelyn's baked mac & cheese. And what a warm, absolutely ideal Christmas it was, joined by Tracy's sis Jeanette and her parents Janice & John, their friend Oscar, as well as T&J's 2-year-old Gracie, who was a perfectly behaved child: She didn't cry, she wasn't overtly needy and she didn't require leashing to keep her from taking over the apartment. Wow, good parenting! It was a fab day, full of good will, great food and love & laughter... just perfect. *

M.C., Cool Cats!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

· New York's Empire State Building lights are turned off at midnight with the exception of New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St. Patrick's Day, when they are illuminated until 3 a.m.
· Christmas became a national holiday in America on June 26, 1870. The first president to decorate the White House Christmas tree was Franklin Pierce.
· Germany made the first artificial Christmas trees: with goose feathers dyed green.
· Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895.
· Christmas trees are edible. Many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C. Pine cones are also a good source of nutrition.
· During the Christmas buying season, Visa cards are used 5,340 times every minute in the U.S.
· "Jingle Bells" was first written for Thanksgiving.
· Hallmark introduced its first Christmas cards in 1915, five years after the founding of the company. More than three billion Christmas cards are sent annually in the U.S.
· More diamonds are purchased at Christmas-time (31%) than any other holiday or occasion during the year.
· A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.
· Contrary to common belief, poinsettia plants are non-toxic. They originally grew in Mexico, known as the "Flower of the Holy Night" and were brought to America by Joel Poinsett in 1829.
· Although many believe the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, it is the fifth to tenth busiest day. The Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days of the year.
· "It's A Wonderful Life" appears on TV more than any holiday movie (royalty-free).
· Historians have traced current traditions surrounding Father Christmas or Santa Claus back to ancient Celtic roots. Father Christmas' elves are the modernization of the "Nature folk" of the Pagan religions; his reindeer are associated with the "Horned God," which was one of the Pagan deities.
· If you received all of the gifts in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," you would be overwhelmed with 364 presents.