Christmas Cookie Chronicles: Volume 1, Issue 1

So, I've decided to blog about my Christmas baking escapades.  Every year, my mom spreads the Christmas joy by baking cookies and giving them away.  I plan on doing the same, only on a much smaller scale (I guess there is a bonus to not knowing many people here in Colorado.)

Since my work schedule is hectic, I had to begin somewhat early (well relatively not so because my mom started like 3 weeks ago) with cookies that would store well.  I hope to have made about 10 to 15 different kinds by the time I start giving away plates.

So, where did I start?

I think it would be only fair to my husband to start with his favorite cookie, the Mexican Wedding Cookie (aka Mexican Wedding Cake, Italian Wedding Cookie, and Russian Tea Cakes.) Most have likely tried one of these before.  It's basically shortbread with ground nuts rolled and baked into a ball, then rolled in powdered sugar.  I'm not fond of them because I don't fancy pecans but Jon can down many of these in one sitting.

I used my favorite lady's recipe and I think they turned out well.  Here is a picture of the small tin I allowed for Jon (some are already missing.)  If you make these, you can freeze them before you roll them in powdered sugar.  Bring them out when ready to serve and roll away (the cookies in the picture were rolled once, but I suggest twice to make them look nicer.)

Today I made one of my favorite Christmas cookies, spritz (also called pressed cookies.)  These are the cookies that you make with a cookie press and they come in various shapes.  I can remember these being made for Christmas since I was very young.  I also remember my mom getting really angry with the cookie press, so much that I have been making them for her for the past couple of years.  The picture below shows the snowmen holding trees (yes, they're snowmen, not something dirty) and my family's traditional pink flowers.

Anyways, these turned out nice as well, so I'm very slowly on my way to having enough varieties to make a proper cookie plate.

More to come...

Quick Update

-Well, I took the plunge and CHOPPED my hair. I think a good 8 inches came off and my hair hasn't been this short in about 8 years. I think I'll get pictures this weekend and post them. I didn't show one ounce of emotion when I saw all of the hair on the ground, although, it's been very weird to not really have much hair to run my hands through (well, I'm sure my hands would have gotten stuck anyways from all the tangles.) Jon likes it too, so that's a plus!

-Another Christmasaholic and I have been assigned to decorate our pretty library at work for the holidays. And we have money to spend. This could get dangerous.

-Thanks to Camille, I'm finally thinking about Thanksgiving dinner now that we're only a week away. Thus far, all I've gotten has been the small turkey. Since we're only cooking for ourselves, we have a small lineup:

• Turkey
• Homemade stuffing
  
• Green Bean Casserole
• Smashed Potatoes
• Homemade crescent rolls
  
• Pumpkin chiffon pie

So, very basic, but we will also be decorating for Christmas that day, so I'll live vicariously through reading about fellow bloggers' Thanksgiving dinners.

Other than the above, I've been a YA reading fool. Good thing my job coincides with the literature I prefer!

Taking a Rest

So I've only worked a whopping two days this week.  I worked around 60 hours last week and we had Veteran's Day off, so I've had a few WONDERFUL days at home.  The dogs sure seem to appreciate it at least.  

While I've gotten minimal housekeeping done (I'll be doing plenty this weekend) I have managed to get around to some baking, which has been woefully sidelined since I have moved here.  First up was making my very own pumpkin puree which is surprisingly easy.  I could have used the canned stuff, which is honestly just as good, but there is immense satisfaction in making your own.  From that, I froze a couple of cups to make a pie for Thanksgiving, and with the rest I made some wonderful pumpkin butter.  I got the above two ideas from a co-worker, and Jon and I are very happy campers now. 

Well the butter is useless without bread.  I've been in to bread making lately and made some simple white bread.  This stuff is heaven and I highly recommend it to anybody.  Bread making is so easy with the mixer and I look forward to experimenting more when I have another week like this in the future.  

I hope to bake some more this weekend, including making what shall be the beginning of CHRISTMAS BAKING!

Why I'm Like My Mom : Issue 1

So, most women experience this revelation as they get older.  I'm not sure why it's always such a shock to me that I'm just like my mom.  I have people tell me often that we're alike in many ways, but it always surprises me because we we're more likely to argue than my dad and I. Lately though, our similarities have been very apparent and I figured it would be a good topic to blog about.  So I'll post our random, and what I think are quirky, similarities at various points in the future.

So what is the subject of our first similarity?  SALES which lead to HOARDING

So I'm shopping in the grocery store this evening and I suddenly have four pounds of unsalted butter in my cart.  Now, I already have two pounds at home, and I will need more butter over the next month because (again continuing my mom's tradition) I will be making cookie trays and will need the butter.  The butter was on sale though for about half of what is normally charged and I was in a state of absolute GLEE over it.  I know I would have done the same thing though if I didn't need the butter.

I remember "cataloging"/taking inventory (I should have known I would become a librarian) of my mom's pantry growing up and constantly complaining that she had, for example, 5 bottles of ketchup (and didn't even realize she had that many.)  She would tell me that she got the items on sale and would store them away for later use.  

Perusing my own pantry and seeing the multiple cans of crushed and diced tomatoes (I use them a lot) and canned pumpkin, all purchased on sale, I realize that I am very much like her and should slap myself on the wrist for ever criticizing her purchasing habits.