Decorating Committee

I love love love to bake. I'm not so keen on decorating. I make a million Christmas cookies and try not to decorate any of them. I didn't frost or sprinkle any cut-out cookies this year, but I didn't dodge the decorating bullet completely.

On Christmas Eve night, I was at my grandmother's house and decided to decorate a few of the gingerbread people (and bears) since I was going to give some to my aunt the next morning. She and I talked and watched tv while I decorated and the next thing I knew, all of the cookies were done and it was 3 AM.

The first few were hard, but I got better and more creative as the night wore on. It reminded me of when I would stay up all night writing a paper in college, only instead of typing big words and sharp turns of phrase, I drew fun patterns and hairdos. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of how they look. Maybe piping is my forte.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is having Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert. It isn't the conventional cake that you find across the pond, but the linked recipe I use is by Nigella Lawson so you can trust it.

It's served warm with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.

Cookie Platter

A platter full of Christmas cookies. Missing are some baked after Christmas, which include Snowballs and Almond Poppy Seed Cookies.

From clockwise from left: Gingerbread People, Coconut Thumbprints, Gramma Kookoo's Swedish Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Chip, Butterscotch Cookies and Kiefels in the center. Merry Christmas!

Thanks for Baking

I made the pumpkin pie for dinner all by myself! from the homemade crust to the filling to the whipped cream to top it! I used a different recipe from years past, and I think using condensed milk instead of evaporated milk and sugar gave it a smoother texture.


The whole spread. From left to right, pumpkin pie, whipped cream, red velvet cupcakes, pumpkin roll, chocolate roll, mini-pumpkin pie (graham cracker crust) and pumpkin cheesecake.

This picture is terrible but all of the ones I took were. I think we need a tablecloth for the dessert table. At least for the picture.

Third Birthday Party

Once again, I provided a second dessert for my godson's birthday party. This year the theme was trains so I made cookies instead of cupcakes. His mom and I decorated the cookies to match the party invitations of crossing signs and trains.

Bakery bought cake. I like the smokestack made of marshmallows and an ice cream cone.

Red Flags

This is one of my favorite songs released this year. I've liked Sondre Lerche for a while, and I thought this would be the year I saw him live. Unfortunately, he got a gig on The Late Show with David Letterman and cancelled his Cleveland show at the last minute. I hope Cleveland is a stop on his next tour!



The Letterman appearance:

Buttermilk Waffles

I finally used the mystery waffle iron that I mentioned a while ago. I think these waffles were made with this recipe, but I have since tried this one (omitting the cinnamon and using half whole wheat/half all-purpose flour) . I'm still getting the hang of the waffle iron, especially filling it correctly.

Golden brown!

I'm not a fan of syrup so I topped them with butter and powdered sugar. Although, my favorite way to eat waffles is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.