Holiday dessert season

This is the season of grading, of course, and I have bloated research papers going belly up on my dining room table. But it is also the season of holiday potlucks. Yesterday we had our Torah group meeting again, and before that, joined a Jewish education class for a Chanukah potluck. There were all the favorites: two kinds of latkes; applesauce; sour cream; two kinds of brisket (one with limas and one without); two salads; darling cookies decorated with icing; and my assembled almond cake. I found the recipe in one of my fusion cookbooks. It is a virtually flourless torte, made with ground almonds and eggs. On top of it, you put dried papayas soaked in Grand Marnier and orange juice, and various kinds of fruit (quartered pears, green grapes, blackberries,and pomegranite seeds). I added whipped cream to this, slathering it over the tiny cake and putting the fruit on top at the last minute. Then I drizzled the left over grand marnier and orange juice mixture, leaving some on the side for people to add themselves to their plates. It was beautiful! And it tasted good too. Not difficult either.
Last night in Torah group we had some juicy bits to ponder. We returned to the Annunciation of Sarah, where she laughs "inwardly," according to our translation, while in the previous book, Abraham had fallen on his face, hysterical with laughter, with no repercussions. Despite her relative discretion (and who could blame her, since they were both so old?), God apparently fingers her for making light of the whole affair. But the Rabbis, in their wisdom, didn't find that reading convincing. They said that it was Abraham, not God, who accused Sarah of laughing, his male pride coming to the fore. IE: who are you to say I can't get it up anymore???
Interestingly, while God (or his messengers) communicate directly with Hagar, they don't do so with Sarah. She hangs behind the tent flaps and the angels deliver the news to Abraham instead.
This is part of a pattern we see later, when Lot's wife (who remains a nameless pillar of salt) turns to look behind her at the destruction of the city, where two of her married daughters might have remained, and is punished for something she never heard, since the angels told Lot but not her not to turn around.
We also discussed Lot's daughters, who think they are the last women on earth, and seduce their father, immediately conceiving (and bearing two tribes that become Israel's enemies). There is no overt condemnation of their act, but perhaps the fact that their progeny are Israel's enemies is a tacit condemnation?