MM and I head out tomorrow for the annual whirlwind holiday travel. We get to spend 4-5 hours in the car, depending on traffic to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with two families. Shortly after, we’ll head home, then off to another family for a couple of days.
I didn’t craft as many holiday gifts as I have in the past, but I did spend an awful lot of time in the kitchen!
I made four Swirl Cinnamon Breads for our neighbors and a friend, followed by three types of cookies:
The Pumpkin Snickerdoodles went over so well at Thanksgiving, I had to make more for Christmas. The Chocolate Mint cookies are ones that I grew up with, so those were a must have (if not to share, then for me! 🙂 ). The Vermont Maple Cookies are the new recipe this year, and they were fun! I haven’t used a glaze on cookies before. It makes me want to figure out how to add a glaze to the Cinnamon Bread in the future.
In addition, I needed to make another batch of Bolognese sauce, since I’d used the last four servings to feed a couple of colleagues we had visiting the week after Thanksgiving – so I double it. It’s not as thick as it really should be, but I can fix that by having each serving simmer just a little longer than I would normally when reheating.
And, since we had another friend over last night, I made some Tuscan-Style Herbed Bread to go with cheese and a whiskey tasting that MM took him through.
While the Bolognese and the Tuscan-Style Herbed Bread won’t be traveling with us, I anticipate most of the cookies being gone by week’s end – which is a good thing!
So, not so many sewn gifts, or crafts (though my niece will be getting something pretty darn cute) this year. Time just got away from me. But I’m really proud of all the food! 🙂
Merry Christmas, everyone! May all of you find time to relax and celebrate in ways that make you truly happy. 🙂
Merry Christmas. Safe travels. Take some time for each other. Hugs. Diane