It's that time of year again that I love. We've settled in from our summer travels and acquired our Christmas Holiday spirit and an extra amount of good cheer. Now for the holiday baking - yay! Fruitcake first so there's plenty of time to "mellow" it (with a bourbon sprinkle every now and then). Next was to use those peppermint crunch baking chips to make chocolate chip, peppermint chip & pecan cookies. They were very good and I got a lot of good feedback from my taste-testers. They will be my cookie exchange offering.
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| Fruitcake is a wonderful thing! |
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| Got the fruitcake swaddled & wrapped, my cookie tins out, plus the .10¢ recipe books that I scored from the library, I think I'm set. |
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| Peppermint crunch, chocolate chip, pecan cookies |
Not sure what got into me, but I couldn't stop baking. So since we love macaroons, I had to try these Chocolate Macaroon Bars. Basically a compressed chocolate cake-like crust covered by a chocolate chip, coconut and pecan macaroon layer. Oh my goodness, these were goooood! I cut them up into tiny squares so I ended up with a nice sized batch. Some of which went into the freezer.
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| Chocolate Macaroon Bars. A 9" x 13" pan - probably 60 pieces. |
I've been steadily working on my stock of Bobby-Dazzlers so I have something to offer my friends and neighborhood folks. Lots of people have the "secret Santa" type gift exchange events going on at work or Sunday school, and these seem to fit the bill. Sales have been steady. I dedicated a portion of the craft room to a small display setup. I obviously won't let strangers into my house but my neighbors are fine. I close off the rest of the house and the craft room has it's own entrance door to the outside courtyard.
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| Dazzler display area. I close off my craft room from the rest of the house. |
We have had some nice weather and some breathtaking sunrises this month. The other week a large flock (30?) of American White Ibis came marching through our end of the neighborhood. Very cool! They started getting a little strung-out by the time I took this picture.
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| This end of the neighborhood is a cul-de-sac, no through traffic. |
As for sunrises, check out this beauty!
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| Winter sunrises are just the best. 😍 |
Another traditional thing that I adhere to are snail mail Christmas cards. Even though I wish my Facebook friends all the best for the Holidays, I still send out Christmas cards to family and special friends. I love seeing them on my mantle so I'll bet they do too. I do "assorted" cards rather than buying a box of one type. More interesting that way and less of an expense.
Well, I guess that's all I got for you this time, but there's plenty happening in the upcoming weeks, so stay-tuned. Thanks for dropping by and you have a wonderful Christmas. Peace be unto all. 🎄
