COOKIETIME!
Wow, my dining table is looking very festive! I've got gingerbells and gingertrees, lemon basil cookies with both currants and dried blueberries, scotch-pecan butterballs, no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies, almond macaroons, rosemary pine nut shortbread stars, and cocoa brandy balls. In the oven now are some chocolate peppermint bars, and later I'll do the rosettes, and possibly/probably some haroset balls. Baking is so much more fun than shopping, but I have to do some of that later too. Hopefully it will mean I get to hang out with Donovan and his mom, provided he is not suffering too much from the agony of teething. Being a baby is hard work!
Today was a surprise day off (switched for tomorrow with Jilly) so I got to listen to Roxie on the Rocket. Somehow he got to go to the Zep reunion and sit in the third row---without a ticket. He never did actually tell the story of how that happened, but rest assured---my jealousy knows no bounds.
Grr. Besides the rock, and the baking, and the shopping, I need to start planning the "Christmas" feast for rebby and me. We're going to have our dinner on Friday, and we're having ham. The ham is giant and currently in the freezer, so I need to get it out and start it thawing. I also need to read up on cooking a ham, because all I've ever done before is heat up one that is pre-cooked. This will be an adventure. I'm not sure what to serve with ham, even...besides some sweet potatoes with apples. Any ideas? I'd like to see if I can figure out how to make those cinnamon spiced apple rings they serve in the German restaurants. Oh! Spaetzle! The perfect germanic holiday side dish.
Sunday I'll be making my first ever batch of scotch eggs to take to the family for Christmas eve. I'm really excited to do it, though I'm not looking forward to lots and lots of deep fat frying. Maybe I should dig out and clean up my fryer instead of doing it stovetop.....
Hope the days leading up to the holidays are bringing you lots of cheer. I'm feeling very Christmasy this year for the first time in ages. I like it.