I am officially on holiday until 8 am January 3!!!!!!! I spent the day baking, which is my one of my favorite forms of stress relief. Today, I baked chocolate chip cookies, Mexican wedding cakes (1 cup butter, 4 T. powedered sugar, 2 cups flour, 1 cup chopped walnuts, shape into small balls, bake 350 for 15 minutes), Magic squares (cookie crumbs, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, coconut, and nuts layered in a pan and baked until gooey and yummy), and finally, a cranberry coffee cake. I've never made anything with fresh cranberries before. They are a bit sour, so I had to add a sugar glaze (thanks for the tip, mommy). Next time I will have to remember to taste them first.
Needless to say, I am going to have to buy bigger pants or work out a lot. I am actually showing some restraint in the baking department this year. One year I think I made 15 kinds of cookies, but I was in college at the time and had a rather stressful semester. Baking is much more relaxing than, say, writing an 8-page paper in German or calming a tantruming 10-year-old, or developing crises intervention plans for depressed teenagers. Flour, sugar, and butter are easier to manage. They are predictable, and nobody sues me if I make a mistake and burn the cookies.
Hope everyone has a nice holiday!!!!
