Simply Christmas

If you came by today, you might think the Grinch stopped by.  There is no tree (it's in the closet) or decor (also in the closet) nor are there lights or anything else.  

I didn't really plan it, or rather I failed to make plans.  I thought about putting up the tree and decorations right around Thanksgiving.  But then I needed to finish my final paper, and then before I knew it, it was finals week.  

I did bake cookies though.  I invited a friend to come over last Saturday to bake.  In preparation for that I did all the shopping and cleaning on Friday.  She texted me she would be an hour late, which was no big deal.  I started baking the cookies I had made the day before.  By the time she arrived I had a good head start on it.  

She started with putting together wedding cookies (which I don't like, although that isn't the point) by re-interpreting the recipe so that it would be gluten free.  I kept baking while she was putting it together.  She put that batch in the refrigerator to cool and then started out with the sugar cookie dough she brought with her, which was in two batches ~ red and white.  She explains we take a bit of each color, roll each into a 4 inch rope and twist them together to make a sort of 3D candy cane cookie.  Her first one looked pretty good.  But mine were awful.  I don't know if I over worked the dough, but when I started to twist the two ropes, one color rope would break.  I started again.  Same result.  We spent at least 30 minutes trying to get this to work, with pretty awful results.  I think if she hadn't put ground almonds into the dough, it might have gone better ~ and it was a good idea to give the dough a little texture, but it changed the consistency of the dough. 

Well, you don't really need a blow by blow of how the afternoon went.  She had come over at 11 am and a 4 pm I was exhausted.  As sweet as she is, I was ready for her to go home!  So I mentioned I needed to get to the post office before they closed, and she said "well, I should go then!".  In the end I had baked nearly all my cookies.  My kitchen was a total mess.  She didn't even offer to help me clean up.  And there will be no invitation next year.

Love, 365