Christmas pie

So here's my holiday project - piemaking. I decided to take a lemon meringue pie to Christmas, because that's what my grandma always used to make.



and then to use the second pie shell, a coconut cream pie:



I bungled the first round on the coconut cream pie - couldn't get it to thicken, and then burned it. The second round was more successful, but I don't think I'm a pie maker - cakes are a lot easier to make.

with the fam in Michigan

..where my mom made me grilled cheese for lunch.

cookie time

My folks sent me these sweet Christmas plates in the mail.

Here's the before:


And the after:


Chocolate cookies with peppermint frosting. I used this recipe mostly, made some changes to the frosting. I like the frosting, the cookie part was like a brownie or chocolate shortbread - something more like a sugar cookie texture probably would have been a little better. But they are one of the most adorable cookies I have ever made.



I made some macaroons as well:

my 500th post

I took cupcakes in today for my class - cookies and cream cupcakes. An Oreo on the bottom of the cupcake, white cake with cookie crumbles, and an almondy buttercream with cookie crumb topping. The recipe is from my favorite cupcake book - Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor.



Reviews from the folks at the office:

"That cupcake was awesome!"

"Jesus…my life was a darker place until I met that cupcake."

"That cupcake today goes down in the dessert hall of fame!"

I thought I had made these before, but upon consulting the blog archives, I must have used a different recipe last time. Clearly this latest version is the keeper.

nothing-flavored cookies

I made some cookies this morning. They are kind of remarkable in that they really don't taste like anything. The texture is terrific - a cakey inside, a slight crisp to the outside texture. But they have no appreciable flavor of anything.



Technically speaking, they are meant to be pineapple coconut cookies. But I think pineapple is one of those fruits that gets easily lost, so barring the addition of something like pineapple extract or candied pineapple, maybe a demonstrably pineapple cookie is not really feasible.

Christmas potholders

I did a little sewing last week. I bought this Peanuts fabrics a year or two ago with the intent to make something for my mom.


I finally used it to make a set of potholders. Halfway through I decided to make a second set for my godmother as well.

One of the fundamental flaws of making my mom surprise presents is that my mom and I always talk about our various craft projects when we chat on the phone. So I think I referred to these about three times to my mom during the week I was making them. So maybe not entirely a surprise.

First, a star patchwork one:


And then some flying geese trees. Probably should have measured the pieces or planned the layout before I just starting throwing the pieces together, but luckily they fit together reasonably well.

Christmas cactus

Every year they say that Christmas season starts earlier.

Apparently my Christmas cactus is falling for this trend as well - it started blooming this year weeks early, right after Thanksgiving.

wonderful gifts in the mail

So last week, I got two awesome packages in the mail.

First, a box of cookies! Rugelach and chocolate-dipped shortbready ones.


A gift from my aunt. Delicious!

And a care package from my mom, with a bunch of candy and snacks, and this:


A little light-up ceramic tree! My grandma had one of these, my mom does too. And now I have one. It's great. At the rate I'm going, perhaps the only Christmas decoration I get up this year.

I heart getting surprise packages!