Cookies!

I made this recipe at Halloween, and a friend at worked liked it so much that she asked for the recipe.  When I made these again for the office Christmas lunch, I actually remembered to post the recipe for her.  Progress!

The Recipe: Soft Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookies from The Baker Chick.

The Baker Chick, in turn, found her Chocolate Sugar Cookie recipe on Cooking Classy.  I've copied the recipe here, with my few notes.

Yield: 2-4 dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cookies (the size I make, I get about 3 dozen)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light-brown sugar
• 9 Tbsp butter, softened (1 stick + 1 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• ½ Tbsp vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

• 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) butter, softened
• 4 cups of powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream
• food coloring(optional)
• toppings - sprinkles, nonpareils, colored sugar, etc.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter and sour cream until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).
4. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix until well combined. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until incorporated (dough will be thick!).
5. Scoop 1-2 tablespoon sized portions of dough and form into balls (depending on how big you want your cookies.)
6. Place dough-balls onto parchment-lined cookie sheets and evenly flatten to about ½ inch thick. The cookies don't spread much so they can be relatively close.
7. Bake in preheated oven 9 - 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting (very important!).

For the Frosting:

1. Place softened butter in a large bowl and whip until creamy and pale. 
2. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until thick and smooth. If using unsalted butter, you might want to add a pinch of salt to offset the sweetness (adjust to your own taste).
3. Add in vanilla and milk or cream until frosting is dense and creamy. 
4. Add food coloring, if using. Mix until color is well-blended and consistent.
5. Frost cookies.  Top with sprinkles, if desired.

Notes, Variations, Etc.:

The frosting dries and hardens a little after a very short while, which means that the cookies can be stacked in an container without smearing.  Nice!  Still a good idea to have a sheet of waxed paper between the layers, though.

The overall idea is to have a nice, soft, rich chocolate cookie, almost dark chocolate in taste, which can then be frosted without being too sweet.  My friend called them "brownie cookies" because they are very soft and rich.What I like so much about these cookies (aside from being yummy) is that they are fun.  The frosting offers so much possibility!  So many possible color and/or flavor combinations!!  Like the Lofthouse cookies you see in grocery stores all over, with the seasonally-colored frosting and sprinkles.  Except these are homemade and chocolate instead (both important pluses, in my book!).

For the batch in October, I used The Baker Chick's original recipe, making just plain frosting with food coloring to make things orange.  The chocolate cookies were naturally nice and dark, a nice contrast to the orange, and then I topped it all off with Halloween sprinkles.  Festive! 

And no, the frosting isn't as spread as thick on the cookies as you might think.  The uneven surface of the cookies makes them look more thickly frosted.  If you are comparing pictures between websites closely, The Baker Chick rolled her dough to make smoother dough balls, and thus smoother cookies; I just went with the drop-cookie method, and didn't really press mine down to that even ½ inch depth.  Easier, but it does produce lumpier/peakier/less aesthetically pleasing cookies.  Still taste just fine though!  :)

This week, for the Christmas batch, I got experimental!  When I made the frosting, I decided to make peppermint frosting.  1 - it's Christmas.  2 - I'm a sucker for anything peppermint and chocolate.  It's a serious weakness.  After a little online research, there are two main ways to make peppermint frosting.  Either you add lots of crushed candy cane or peppermint pieces to the plain frosting, or you add peppermint extract.  As I didn't have any candy canes in the house, I went with Option 2.  Perhaps at Valentine's Day, I'll do the candy cane version...

To make peppermint frosting, I added 1/8 tsp. peppermint extract to the plain frosting as I was mixing.

I did notice that trying to make the red frosting meant that I had to add a LOT of red food coloring.  If I didn't, the frosting was a lovely seasonal shade of... pink.  Not quite what I was going for.  Between the red food coloring and the peppermint extract, I had more liquid in this batch of frosting than in the Halloween batch.  I ended up having to mix things more, and the frosting was more whipped than the first time I made these.  Not a big deal one way or another, but something to think about if you're making your own alterations.

Looking ahead to the next time I bake these, I might try the peanut butter frosting that Cooking Classy used in her recipe.  Peanut butter and chocolate is another personal weakness, one only slightly less serious than peppermint and chocolate!  And the Baker Chick has a Soft Frosted Pumpkin Spice Cookie too, if I want to try a falltime-ish cookie. Like I said earlier, the variations in flavors and decorations make these fun and seasonally appropriate year-round :)

One last race post!

As I'm having a morning of typing up 'End of 2012 Race Results, Notes, and Thoughts' sort of posts, there's one more race to share.  This one was a 5K, another free one on post.  There's one about once a month, and we try to get to the ones we can.  Again, yay for MWR!

This one was the Holiday Dash, or some similar name, held the week after the Jingle Bun Run.  It was the last MWR race for 2012.  Pretty nice way to end the year's race season too.  Not quite as perfect running weather as the week before, but still pretty nice.  They raced the course in the opposite direction from usual, which I wasn't as fond of.  The 5Ks on post typically run the same route, so I guess they were trying to mix things up.  But it meant that the race started with a steeper uphill, instead of finishing with a nice coast downhill.  Not as much fun for me, I'll admit - I'm a little flat-lander coastal type.  I like my flat races :)  With my legs still tired from the week before, it wasn't my best time, but it was still a respectable run, and I had fun.

We did dress up for the race, which contributed a lot to the fun.  Zach was still getting over a running injury, and I'd had the big race the week before, so we both figured we'd go out and just have a good time, not worry about speed so much.  Zach pulled out his Santa suit from the Great Santa Run a few years ago, and I was an elf to accompany.  You can't tell from the picture so much, but my hat has elf ears on the sides!  And of course, the stripey knee-highs again.  Turning into good luck running socks, I think!  I also carried jingle bells too (you can see them in my hand).  Zach laughed that carrying the bells helped him keep an eye (ear?) on my pace - if the bells were nice jingling nice and steady, I was truckin' right along.  The more tired I got, the bells bounced and jingled a little more erratically :)

 

Wearing costumes ourselves definitely made me notice was the lack of Silly Holiday Spirit in the runners!!  I don't know if it's TX or this area or this post, but we were the only ones really dressed up!  There were a few sporting Santa hats and one or two reindeer antlers, and one other elf, and that was it!  Maybe it's coming from bigger running areas than where we are now, but the holiday runs always included a bunch of costumed runners in attendance.  I remember one runner decked out as a Christmas tree - green sweatshirt with tinsel and ornaments, and a headband tree topper!  Lots of kids at this run (I think it was part of a school PE program?) so they had some Santa hats, but very few of the adults.  Humbugs! 

So, of course, being two of the few festive runners, as well as the only Santa in the bunch, we got noticed!  They had us come to the front to start the race with all the kids, and we had lots of Ho Ho Ho-ing to do as we ran along, but it was fun.  And of course a lot of jokes about where did Santa's belly go ("This is what running'll do for you, kids!")  The best reaction to Zach's suit was as we were cutting through the gym after the race to get back to the parking lot.  We passed a family with a few little boys, and the smallest (about 6 years old?) just looked up at Zach with these ENORMOUS brown eyes.  "WOW!  Santa's at the basketball court!" - you could just read it in his face.  So cute!!  Zach bent down and talked to him a moment, and chuckled with the little guy's dad.  Priceless face, though, lemme tell you!

And the press was out there!  Besides starting the race, our holiday garb got us interviewed!  It was the last race of 2012, so the post paper's sports columnist came out to write it up.  He came up to us at the end and interviewed us as we were enjoying our post-race bananas and cheering for the other finishers.  And yes, we did make it into the paper!  Not the front page of the sports section, but one of the articles with a front page leader.  In the picture they printed, you can see Zach's Santa very easily over the kids in the picture, but my striped elf hat and socks are a little harder to catch.  But we're there!

Back in the Saddle

Or at least, back on the road.  Back in December was my first long race in a very long while, the Jingle Bun Run half marathon.  Last time I ran a half marathon was before we moved to Texas, so over a year and a half previously - yikes! And as life settles down, I'm needing my Big Race Motivation again.  This is a local half, so not too expensive.  A good way to get back on the horse, right?

So why am I writing about it now?  Because my race shirt finally came in the mail!

I had done race day registration, since up until the last I wasn't quite sure that I'd feel up to it.  Texas weather bounces around something crazy, and it tends to make my knee ache.  No need to be running 13 miles when I'm hobbling about.  But, with this being a tiny local race, they had race day registration, so I could make my decision as late as possible.  That also meant that they were out of my size shirt on race day, so mine had to be mailed to me.  But it came!


Mom always laughs that I take wonderful race pictures.  I have to say, mile 11 in a half marathon does seem to work well for me.  Mile 13, a little rougher :)  Still, I could see my time and could see the finish line, so the big grin is very genuine!

  

We totally lucked out with the weather for the race, too.  60, overcast, lightly misting at times... perfect for running 2+ hours!  The following week was sunny (and Texas KNOWS sunny) and about 10 degrees warmer.  I definitely don't think I'd have done nearly as well with weather like that!

 

Another bonus to this race was that the race photos were free!  The photo company took the pictures and then uploaded them to a set on Flickr.  Maybe because it was a relatively small race, or maybe because it was the Christmas season, but the photos weren't barred or blocked or whatever, so any of the runners could download pictures in which they spotted themselves!  Flip side to free pictures meant that you had to look yourself up (they tagged race numbers in the pictures, but didn't match them to names) and they were only at one point on the course, plus start and finish.  But those are VERY small prices to have free race pictures!  Thank you PhotoWolfe!

And the most exciting thing about this race (and why I'm so excited to have the shirt to wear and brag) is that I dropped TONS of time!  About 9 minutes, in fact!  So, a race that I wasn't sure I'd even feel up to running, was one where I dropped tons of time!!  The course was twice around a loop course.  I had never done a race like that, and was worried that it would make the race seem longer, kinda a "Oh, we're only here" sort of feeling.  I think it went quicker mentally though, because I knew what was coming, knew how much further I needed to go.  Broke a long race into smaller mental pieces, I guess.  So great weather, quick-feeling course... whatever the reason though, I had a great race!

A final silly side note, I did prepare a costume for this race.  I've run short races (5Ks) in costume, but this was the first long race I'd considered it!  Just a small one (see below): bunny ears in a Santa hat, plus a bunny tail!  Being a bunny person, every time I saw "Jingle Bun," I thought "bunnies."  It comes, of course, from the sponsor (Schlotzky's), meaning sandwich buns!  Anyway, I figured I'd be a Jingle Bun!  Just cut slits in a cheap Santa hat to feed the ears of a bunny headband through.  I ended up not wearing them, though they were waiting in the car for me.  It was kinda misty and felt almost muggy once we got underway and started warming up, and I didn't want a bedraggled bunny tail.  Still wore my striped knee socks (toe socks!) though.  :)  Next year I'll be a Jingle Bun, maybe!

 

Christmas Crafting!

A project totally for fun and appropriate for the time of year.  I was looking for a new card holder since our old card display got damaged in the move.  We don't get tons of cards, but we do get some, so I like to display them.  I found two versions of this project on Pinterest (on Craftiness is Not Optional, and on Holiday Kids Crafts), so ended up cobbling them together with what I liked from each.  What I've done is as follows:

What you'll need:

• Green paint
• Wooden clothespins - the 'alligator' kind with the spring.  (The number of clothes pins depends on the size of your wreath.  I used a Wal-Mart pack of 50, and that was plenty.  Even had some left over.)
• Beads - either pre-painted in red and/or green, or unpainted - pony beads work well
• If beads are unpainted, you'll want paint for the beads, red and/or another shade of green
• Wire - you can use craft wire, or a wire coat hanger.  I used the coat hanger, because we already had a bunch.
• Christmas ribbon - if you want a big, loopy bow, the wired ribbon works best.

Instructions:

1.     Paint your clothespins with the green paint.  If you are alternating shades of green, paint half of your clothes pins in one green and half of them in another green.  Make sure everything is covered by the paint, both sides of the clip as well as between the two parts as best you can. Let the pins dry thoroughly.  I liked this way of painting them (as seen in one of the example projects above): use a box to support the pins and much more easily paint both sides of the pins.

2.     If your beads are not already colored, paint the beads.  You can use pre-painted beads if you can find them, or use pony beads, like Craftiness is Not Optional.  I used pony beads, as the round wooded beads at Hobby Lobby didn't have pre-drilled wooden beads the size I wanted.  Allow the paint to dry thoroughly on the beads as well. 

3.     Cut wire to the length for your desired size wreath.  I used a coat hanger wire because (a) it's a great size for a decent wreath, and (b) it's free.  Everyone's closet has spare wire hangers, after all!  For a good size length of wire, cut off the hook of the hanger, just at the bend at the base of the hook.  One note about the coat hanger though: check the diameter of the coat hanger wire against the sizing of the clothespins.  I had to use a plain wire coat hanger, as the plastic-coated one (the white ones) was too big to fit through the clothespins.  Easiest to do this stage, before you cut the wire, instead of once it's all cut.  Learn from my mistakes :)

4.     When everything is completely dry, string a clothespin onto the wire through the spring in the center of the clothespin. The pinching end of the clothespin should be facing out.

4.     String the rest of the materials, alternating red beads and green clothespins.  

5.     When you end up with the size you want, bend the wire into a circle and twist at the top.  Secure the twist with a generous helping of hot glue to secure.

 

6.     Some ribbon to hang it, and a Christmas bow on top, and you're done!  Besides looking cute and festive, the bow and the ribbon will help hide the wire and glue at the top of the wreath.

 

7.     Hang your wreath, and clip Christmas cards into the clothespins to display.  Cute!

Notes on the variations: 

• Holiday Kids Crafts alternated shades of green for the clothespins (bright green and evergreen), and colors of the beads as well (red and green).  They used a pattern of beads and clothespins as follows: evergreen clothespin, red bead, primary green clothespin, green bead, etc.  Whether you use alternating colors, or a more uniform look like I (and Craftiness) did, make sure you alternate regularly, one bead per clothespin.
• Craftiness is Not Optional used plain unwired ribbon on the bow, as their bow was smaller to begin with.  The wired ribbon used in the other inspiration project is easier to make those big decorative bows with.  For a hanging loop and a basic bow, you probably only need a yard or so of ribbon.  Just remember, the bigger the bow, the more ribbon you'll need.  I used the whole spool of Dollar Store ribbon on this bow (9 yds, if you're curious).

Happy holidays everyone!

Merry Christmas!

And a recipe to share for the season!  Super easy, but looks much more impressive!

Peppermint Bark

 

Ingredients

• 12 ounces (about 2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips.  Milk chocolate or dark chocolate can also be used.
• 12 ounces (about 2 cups) white chocolate, chopped, or white chocolate chips
• 1 bag peppermint hard candies (you could also use candy canes)
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Directions

1. Coarsely crush the peppermint candies.  The method we usually use is to place the candy canes in a tightly sealed, large Ziploc bag, then use a rolling pin or meat tenderizer to roll/smash the candy canes until they are the desired size.  Another method is to unwrap the peppermints and place them in a food processor. Pulse on/off several times for 5-10 seconds each, until the candies have been crushed into small pieces.
2. Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with smooth aluminum foil or waxed paper.
3. Melt the dark chocolate.  Use a double boiler or a bowl over a pan of boiling water.  Be sure to stir constantly.  You could also use the microwave: microwave in medium, microwave-safe bowl on Medium-high (70 percent) power for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth.  Be careful if you're using the microwave though, as it's very easy (and smelly!) to burn the chocolate.
4. Pour the chocolate onto the prepared cookie sheet and use a spatula or knife to spread it to an even thickness.  Remember, the thicker the chocolate, the harder it is to bite into once it's set, so you don't want it too thick!  The chocolate does not have to reach all sides of the sheet, as it will be broken up later anyhow. 
5. Place the tray in the refrigerator to firm up while you prepare the white chocolate.
6. While the dark chocolate hardens, melt the white chocolate, again in the double boiler or bowl-and-pot set-up. Stir in the peppermint extract.  Optional: stir in some of the smaller candy bits, reserving about a quarter of the mixture to put on top.
7. Remove the tray from the refrigerator and spread the white chocolate in an even layer over the dark chocolate.
8. While the white chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the remaining candy pieces evenly over the entire surface. Press down very lightly to make sure that they stick. Place the tray back in the refrigerator to set.  This usually takes at least 30 minutes.
9. Once the peppermint bark bark is completely set, break into small, uneven pieces by hand.
10. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Here you see the finished candy as it looks on the tray.  You break it apart like English toffee or peanut brittle.

You can see the layers of  the candy a little bit better here.  Sorry it's a little blurry, though.  I don't have a great super-zoom sort of lens on my simple point-and-shoot camera.

 

Some thoughts, notes, and variations:

• The amounts of chocolate are just estimates.  More or less chocolate won't really make a difference in the final product - just means you have more or less of a given layer (not one of those recipes where you can't use egg replacer instead of eggs, for example).  In the batch pictured, we used 18 oz. white chocolate (3 6-oz boxes of Baker's White Chocolate) and 16 oz semi-sweet (2 8-oz boxes of Baker's Semi-sweet Chocolate).  Why?  Because that's what the commissary had :)
• Always use good quality chocolate.  Besides tasting better as an end product, the layers will set better and not peel apart.
• It is common to see peppermint bark made with only one chocolate layer (usually white chocolate) and the candies. I like the layers, but if you don't, feel free to omit it.  Alternatively, if you don't like white chocolate, it is acceptable to just use the semi-sweet.
• If you are mixing in candy pieces into the white chocolate layer, you want the larger pieces on the top, as they are more decorative, and the smaller pieces mixed in.  Here is a great idea to accomplish that:.  Use a strainer with the candy, so that the smaller pieces are mixed into the chocolate and the larger pieces are caught in the strainer to set bet aside and used on the top.
• Rita Heikenfeld at AboutEating.com had an interesting variation on how to make the bottom layer.  I'd always made it by melting each layer in a double boiler, but she starts out by melting a layer of chocolate chips in the oven on a low setting, smoothing it, then letting it set in the fridge as usual.  Interesting!  I wonder how much time it saves...
• If you take the finished tray of candy out of the fridge and let it sit for a few minutes, it will soften enough to be MUCH easier to cut apart!

Enjoy!  And Merry Christmas!

Playing with the shinies :)

More stitch markers!

 

 

And another set from sale-bin Halloween earrings :)  Ghosts this time!

And another bookmark for a gift swap.  I swear, I'm probably using more O and K beads than the makers of that package reckoned on :)

I'm also starting to branch out from just stitch markers.  Dabbling with row counters (more on that in another post) and playing with jewelry some more.  I've posted pictures of a bracelets I've done, and a necklace, and here are two more.  I'm really very pleased with each of these, as they are both pretty close to what I was picturing in my head as I planned them!

The packaging said these were peridot-colored, but I disagree; they are a much prettier  color (am not a fan of my birthstone!).  I consider these as a nice, light, spring-time-y green, rather than the dull yellow-green that peridot usually is.  The necklace itself is done on wire with crimp beads.  I'm starting to get the hang of those! It takes a little practice, but I guess that's true of most things with beading, or any craft really!  I didn't want these to be in a pattern, so the shorter strand is just randomly pulled from the smaller sized beads, and the longer strand is alternating the smaller and longer beads, again in random order.

I found some beads a while ago shaped as nice little Christmas lights, and was only waiting to  find the right project to use them with.  This project is actually inspired by the sample project on the Oriental Trading website page for the beads.  I thought the lights should go all the way around though, not just as the little handful at the base.  This is beaded on pins connected to a small chain.  You can kinda see how it comes together in the picture on the top, as I was laying them out, to get the color pattern as I wanted.  Unlike with the peridot necklace, these are in a pattern, not just randomly pulled from the bag of beads.  And ta-da - now I have my own Christmas light necklace!  Unlike Mom's, these don't actually light up, but I am still pleased with it.  ;)

 

Vegas Races #1: The Great Santa 5K

The Las Vegas Great Santa Run:  a paired 5K and 1-mile set of races to benefit a local charity and compete for the Guinness Book of World Records category of " Largest gathering of Santa Claus."  Fun! 

And added bonus?  They announced before the run began that we broke the world record!  It's not official yet, though, but if it is, then Life Goal for Zach checked off:  be in the Guinness Book of World Records.  They didn't have the final count to announce, just that we broke the previous record, but I know looking at the race number bibs people were wearing, we saw numbers over 14000!  That's a lot of Santas!  Hopefully no one else breaks it before the next Guinness edition is published :)

I loved all the costume variations too.  These below were just a few that I saw.  There were Santas with all sorts of hat variations, a handful of elves, Waldo (as in Where's Waldo), Christmas Elvis, a Mrs. Claus or two, tons of dog costumes... Such creativity!  There are some great pictures in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's photo slideshow of the event, and in the ESPN video of the event.  Oh, and the purple reindeer antlers you see in a lot of the pictures were a hand-out from one of the race sponsors, so not really a 'costume variation' per se...  ;)

 

The run is a charity event to benefit Opportunity Village, an assistance facility for adults with intellectual disabilities.  Assisted living options, vocational training, recreation... all sorts of programs are offered.  So, not only is it a fun event, the run supports a really good cause!  And of course, any charity event comes with guest celebrities.  Below you see the Las Vegas mayor, Santa, and a pair of show girls.  Robin Leach was also there!  (His write-up of the event said that the bib numbers topped out at 14,595!!)

 

This is really more of a "run" than a "race."  From a race perspective, it was crowded, and the course was confusing (two laps through a portion of the shopping center, then a final lap around a larger loop to the finish line).  Not everyone knew where the course was exactly, and with that many people... just more confusion.  Still, I wasn't looking for a fast run.  I wanted to have fun, support a good cause, and stretch my legs before the half marathon on Sunday.  Listening to people talk in the crowds on both Saturday and Sunday, there were a lot of other runners there dressed as Santa with the same idea in mind!

 

So, in short, If you're looking for a PR-type 5K, this is not the event for you.  If you're looking for a fun run benefiting a good cause, then definitely check it out if you're in the area!  Who knows, you might be lucky and be there for a year they break the record  in the future!

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

PS - I don't know who took the above picture, as I found it on photobucket, but I really liked it, very simple and striking, so had to post it here too. If I ever find out who took it and edited it, I will share, because they definitely deserve the credit!

Y is for...

Yuletide Cheer!

We have a Christmas tree this year!!!

Now I'm sure there are people out there who are "Wow. A tree. Big Deal" but there are several reasons why I'm excited. The biggest one is that we didn't have one last year. Zach was in training the first 2 1/2 weeks of December last year, so I was on my own here for the majority of the Christmas season. And I really mean on my own - work was quiet (being seasonal and all), Zach was out of town, the rest of the family was on the other side of the country...

Add to that, that it was only our first Christmas together, so we didn't already have established the decorations, traditions and assorted stuff and nonsense for the holiday season.

Yeah, December was rough for me last year. I kinda had to drag ourselves into the holiday spirit.

So, this year we're doing much better! With work craziness, presents still need to be mailed out and I'm not doing Christmas cards this year (sorry for the belated Christmas boxes, everyone!) but we have a tree and ornaments and a few decorations up, and I feel much better about the holiday season.

We have a little table-top tree, which was an saga in itself to find. We were looking for a little 3 foot tree (or thereabouts - really just nothing too big, as we don't have the space for it or the ornaments to fill it yet). We ended up with a 4.5 ft tree. At each store I went to, the 3 foot trees were these little columnar, Charlie-Brown-tree looking things. A 3 ft tall tree that is only 18 inches across doesn't really have the necessary triangular Christmas tree shape. These were purely decoration only, the type to accent a hallway or a stair landing or a front porch, not substitute for a 6 ft full-size tree for a relatively newlywed couple. So, 4.5 ft it was! That was the smallest tree that they had that actually looked like a proper Christmas tree.

Scruffy has, so far, not tried knocking it over. He keeps wanting to hop up on the dining table and just stare at the tree, so we have to keep shooing him off. We don't want his 16 pounds of stubborn fur to decide to rub up on it and mark it as his own and end up knocking the whole thing off the table. Silly kitty. So, knock on wood that he will just stare at it and not try the rubbing. That would be a mess I don't want to deal with!

Side note: DISASTER! I CANNOT FIND MY ADVENT BEAR!!!!! This is our favorite Advent calendar from when we were kids - Anne and I would race in the mornings to see who got to move the bear first. I think it got put in the wrong box (i.e., not one of our Christmas boxes) when we moved, and since we didn't use it last year, I don't remember where he is! I will be turning the apartment inside out soon as I put the Christmas decorations away, because that is part of the Christmas tradition. It just is not Christmas until the Bear finds Christmas!

S is for...

Sister. In Sweats, silly slippers and a Santa Hat! So many S's!

Bwa ha ha! Yes, I did post it!

I love Christmas pictures in our house! There's always at least one of us in a Santa Hat, and we're in sweats all morning (up until Christmas Dinner, usually, when Mom makes us go change and put on 'real' clothes). We're so finicky about Christmas too! We have so many silly little Traditions That May Not Be Changed. Things like blueberry muffins for breakfast (except for Anne, who likes blueberry-less blueberry muffins, so hers are made before the berries get added in for the rest of us). Or each of us having our seats in the living room by the tree for opening presents. Silly little things, but part of the fun is keeping up with the tradition. With my having moved away, the past two Christmases have been a bit looser on some of the traditions, but we still try and keep as many as we can. I wonder how many I'll be able to incorporate into mine and Zach's first Christmas this year.... :)

So, I suppose silly traditions is part of my S, but it's also about my sister. We're about 2 years apart in age, and don't look a thing alike (well, we have similarities, but they're lost under so many differences, few people notice them!) In personality, however, we're very similar! Same ...odd... sense of humor. Very similar tastes in movies, hobbies, music, sports... We rub off on each other a lot, though some would call it enabling. I introduced her to knitting, and karate, and some book and movie titles ("You WILL have volume 12!"). She introduced me to Neopets, and caving, and other book and movie titles. And shopping - she's a great shopping buddy. The type who'll tell you "Honey, no. N. O." or "Yeah, it's cute, but it's not $30 cute." I don't have that sort of shopping buddy here. Granted, there's not much shopping here either, so it's rather a moot point, but still.

Yeah, maybe "enabling" is a better word...

We tend to feed off each other a lot. I've noticed it more the past few years, not living nearby anymore. It's always nice when you can make some reeeeeeeeally random comment, solidly an obscure inside joke, and have someone actually get it (instead of looking at you like your mind's half gone). Much easier than just telling yourself and laughing inside your head instead. The 3 hr time difference between the coasts makes it very hard to call her after a movie.

I'm not saying that we've a perfectly sappy sister relationship (we certainly had our share of growing pains), but I am lucky to have a sister that is a friend too - especially since I'd have to put up with her either way! ;)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good knit!

I haven't posted much in the past week or so, as I'm a little busy. Between Christmas and getting married this Saturday (!!!!), there's been a lot to do. But I feel I should update :)

Wedding planning goes as smoothly as planning ever does with my family. Things are almost all ready (good thing considering we have less than a week left!). We're baking up a storm for cookies for the guests and for the reception. I'm "knitting like the wind," as a friend instructed, so as to finish I Do before Saturday. And before you fuss at me to pick my needles back up, I'm taking a break from knitting to type - at least it's a different motion for my hands! The two halves are finally done, and now it's just a matter of a mile of Kitchener to join them together!!

As for Christmas, for my present to you and to celebrate my 20th post, here's one of our family's favorite cookie recipes (and my absolute favorite Christmas cookie):

Chocolate Mint Cookies

3/4 c. margarine or butter (1 1/2 sticks)

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

2 T. water

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 c.)

2 eggs (real)

2 1/2 c. flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

16 oz. bag Smooth'n'Melty mint candies (use 3 little ones or cut big ones in half)

Combine butter, sugar and water. Cook over low heat until melted (microwave on high approx. 2:30 minutes).

Add chips and stir until partially melted.

Pour into large mixing bowl and cool 10 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, and beat on high.

Stir together flour, soda, and salt.

Add to chocolate mixture and mix on low until blended.

Chill one hour at least.

Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil.

Roll teaspoon of dough into ball. (Handle as little as possible! Does not have to be a perfect ball.)

Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Removed and immediately (while still on cookie sheet) place mint candy on hot cookie, wait a few seconds and press in gently.

Allow mint to soften slightly and spread with a knife.

Cool completely and store in an airtight container. Makes 10 dozen.

Enjoy!

Best Christmas Song EVER!

One last post before I head to bed. I checked my mail, and my sister sent me this. YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT! HYSTERICAL!

Penguin, James Penguin... he's Santa's little spy...
Like a well-dressed duck in a 3-piece tux...

I love Brad Paisley... such a great sense of humor!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, not in South Carolina, it's not. It was 80 degrees yesterday and today. Pretty much is going to stay that way for the next couple days, too. Our nice cool weather won't be coming back until the weekend. And I was so excited to bring my cute sweaters out of the cedar chest last week too... :(

But!

At least it's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas!

Tonight was the Canadian Brass Holiday concert in town. Of course I had to go. Actually, it was the third time I've seen them in concert. Always a fun show. Definitely go see them if they ever come to your town. It's not just classical pieces, too, which is what makes it fun. Tonight's show had the classical pieces, of course, but holiday pieces, Glen Miller, and some just plain ol' silliness.

And I head out of the concert into 65 degrees at 10 at night, happily humming Christmas carols.

But, it's all good! One of the guys in the office I work at grew up in South Africa, so he's been loving this weather. Says that Chirstmas time is beach time! Crazy southern hemisphere...

I'm just ready to break into my winter wardrobe. I'm tired of it being hot, wearing jeans and polos every day to work. I'm ready to wear my cords, my sweaters, not break a sweat simply walking to my car... Bring on the coat weather!