Greg and I read an article recently about a study that involved giving computers to children from low-income families. Researchers then followed the students to see whether having computers at home improved their test scores. And – no surprise here – it did not. The children’s scores in math and reading fell.

Greg and I discussed why that was the case. The article theorized that the children might have lacked supervision and thus spent less time doing homework now that they had a computer. This sounded right to me.

“But they would have already had television” Greg said.

“Yes, but I think computers are a lot more compelling than television,” I said. “They can get on there and chat with their friends and play games.”

Greg disagreed. He said that they probably just exchanged computer time for TV time, so it shouldn’t have made a difference.  I challenged him to explain why they had done worse at school.

“Because they could use the computers to do their math homework,” he said.

“No way, people do not use computers for math,” I said. “I know that’s why computers were invented, but that is not what people use them for.”

“You use our computer for math,” he retorted. Yes, I use the calculator function to balance our checkbook.

“But we had calculators in our house when I was a kid, and I never used them for math homework because I knew that was cheating,” I said.

“But these kids probably did,” Greg said.

The mind of a geek is fascinating. Would kids really race home from school and get in front of the computer to do their math homework? Nevermind video games and Facebook, let’s cheat on this long division!

I remember how excited my brother and I were when we got our first computer. We would run home from school to — brace yourselves for this — play Tetris. I never thought to use it for math, which probably explains why I’m a journalist.

Maybe some of you want to make the cupcakes below but you don’t run. Perhaps you’re an arthritic 31-year-old who owns a cane. Don’t you deserve a cupcake, too? Who am I to discriminate against the prematurely aged?

Well, I have a solution. Maybe you can start with this Lemony Chickpea Stir-fry before the cupcakes. It’s so veggie-packed that it will evaporate any cupcakes you eat.

Greg and I have gone almost completely vegetarian lately, and this is something we eat regularly. It has chickpeas, onions, kale and zucchini. The original recipe, which I got from the 101 Cookbooks blog, calls for tofu. And I know all those vegetarians out there will say that tofu is delicious if cooked properly. Well, I’m doing something wrong. So I leave out the tofu and add a few more veggies and serve this over quinoa or some other grain to make it more of a meal. I also add more lemon and am generous with the salt because otherwise this will be vegetable mush. Oh, and I cook it in a cast-iron skillet so the chickpeas turn nicely golden. When I tried this in a nonstick skillet, my chickpeas looked like Midwesterners after a long winter.

For something so healthy, this really is tasty. Even Eleanor eats it. OK, so she licks the lemon and salt off the kale and then flings it aside. But the chickpeas and zucchini totally pass the test.

I have a hobby, or a sickness, as Greg calls it. I try new recipes obsessively. This involves both baking and cooking, but more often baking. Because baking usually involves the brown sugar and the chocolate and the whipping cream, whereas cooking involves the broccoli.

Greg and I really don’t need dozens of cookies and entire pies, so I always make things with a plan to share some with our friends or our baby-sitter or our co-workers. And you’re thinking, “Hmm, that’s odd. I don’t remember Sarah giving me any cookies lately. Maybe she doesn’t like me.”

Or maybe you don’t like me because I’m very bad at sharing. Yes, my creations rarely escape the kitchen. But this past weekend, something did. Greg and I brought root beer float cupcakes to a party. These had root beer-flavored cake plus ice cream plus whipped cream plus a cherry on top. And Greg gets serious accolades for delivering all of the cupcakes to the party on his own while I was at French class. And for eating only three cupcakes at the party (I think. Maybe four. But definitely no more than four). He’s a man of restraint, I tell you.

Though I think they needed a little more root beer flavor, and it was a pain assembling them at the party, they were a success. You can find the recipe here, at my favorite cooking blog, Smitten Kitchen. And I’ll try to share more cooking adventures in the future.