Decembers, Recently.

For the record, seasonal mood disorder is a real thing and I may or may not be afflicted.  I swear I’ve been a zombie since the cold weather settled in – and I usually love this time of year!  In an effort to boost my moods, I was trolling through my own archives this afternoon.

2 years ago: December 2011

Dec. 2011

Based on my postings, December was a bit of a whirlwind.  We both finished up school that month: Christina graduated and I spent my final semester doing research. We were welcoming our very first litter of puppies into the world! 4 little yellow boys who crash landed into our living room DURING finals week in our last semester of college.  Then, we high-tailed it back to Pittsburgh and tucked ourselves right back into our home WITH our little litter of pups.

1 year ago:  December 2012

Dec. 2012

Another busy month!  We were saying goodbye to Liberty’s second and final litter of puppies as we were settling into the newly renovated home of Changin’ Time in West Homestead.  I was experimenting with some of my favorite recipes: think Avocado Chicken Parmesan, Broccoli Bites, and Chili Colorado Burritos!  And we were taking part in some great holiday festivities: like Spanish Christmas dinner and Christmas cookie exchanges with friends.

Dec. 2012

A lot has changed since I started this blog!  I can’t wait to look back in a few more years and smile at what’s going on lately.  Isn’t blogging the best??

What will this month bring?  Probably much of the same but without puppies. 😦  I am reminded, though, of how blessed I am to have good fortune, health, and a wealth of friends and family in my life.  I love that on days when I’m feeling a bit disconnected from the present, I have this space where I can peek back into daily happenings, funny stories, and events.  Sometimes being reminded of how lucky you are can turn your whole mood around. 🙂

Christmas Cookie Exchange

I hope this blog post finds you still euphoric off of Christmas spirit!  I know I am!!

As I get older, I am becoming strangely fond of Christmas.

This year, I did something unprecedented.  I baked with a friend!

I know, what a silly thing to get excited about.  But, my kitchen is small and under construction most of the time, so it was nice to take my favorite hobby to a place where it could spread its holiday wings.

I decided to bring supplies for three recipes to the ♥butcher’s house.  Armed with six of our favorite Christmas cookie recipes, we toiled late into the night!

It paid off.

The macaroons turned out great, considering I hadn’t tested the recipe before jumping in.  At the ♥butcher’s suggestion, we included the yolks in subsequent batches and found them much improved!  The sugar cookies were wonderful and so was his gingerbread.  I ended up icing mine with a cream cheese icing one I got home.  He also made chocolate crinkles (my favorite cookie of the night) and “everything cookies” with oats, currants, apricot and raisins just to name a few ingredients.

Not pictured are my snickerdoodles, which were a hit.  So much so that I hit the delete button on their pic by accident.

The night was a success, with both of us taking home giant boxes of cookies to share with our loved ones:

I brought cookies with my everywhere for days!

A few that I took to open presents Christmas morning with her♥ family:

And some I mixed in with my mom’s assortment:

Her peppermint candy cane cookies are seriously amazing.

 

What Christmas cookie traditions do you have?