Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas. Kind of a downer that my parents, sister and brother-in-law, brother, two nephews and niece were not able to join us (thanks, crazy weather!), but that just means we get to have Christmas all over again in a few weeks.

Here's a picture of my little hug on Christmas Day! Always wanting to be a helper in the kitchen!

We took a few videos of him too, although he is not quite to the stage where he likes opening presents yet. He sure does like to play, though:

Next up for our kitchen was trying to finish up the remodel by painting it a new color of blue. A little bit brighter and darker. I think it makes a big difference. Oh, and some more toffee too!

Last but not least

HOW LAME! I forgot to take pictures of the 7th Annual Christmakwanzuchah Cookie Exchange! Let me just say everything was delicious. There was a shortage of chocolate at this party, which was a lovely surprise. Lemon, cranberry-orange, almond-poppyseed. All delicious! Well done, ladies! See you next year for the 8th annual!

And since I MUST include a picture, I will give you a little HUG....he was full of antics the other day and decided that one drink was simply not enough...

RECAP numero dos

Next up was the work holiday party. I was kind of convinced that it might be "slim pickin's" on the breakroom table....boy was I WRONG! There were tons of treats and again, all delicious. We did a secret vote for the best recipe, and "Ooey Gooey Butter Toffee Bars" were the winner of the day. They were certainly delicious and won my vote!

Cookie parties: RECAP

I've survived! The cookie parties are all over. All were successful, fun, cheerful, and full of Christmas spirit.

First, there was my MOMS Club party on the 15th, which also happens to be my dad's birthday. With 33 people heading to my house almost EXACTLY at HUGS's bedtime, I was a little nervous. Luckily, hubby came to the rescue and took one for the team. While the moms were downstairs, hubby sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" about 100 times and read a library of baby books. Although the HUG had a rough night sleeping, he was an angel for his dad.

Now for the cookies! Not a dud in the bunch! I took quite a few pictures, but I think a few of my favorites were

• Chocolate Cinnamon Cookies (with cayenne pepper!)
• Butter Pecan Cookies
• Jam Thumbprints

The last picture is a gift box that we all put together for our friends at the Community Center in our neighborhood. Thanks, Patrick! You guys are amazing (and now a little fatter, too).

Done and DONE (for now)

Another day full of baking! We got off to a late start thanks to a very restless HUG last night. But, that's part of being a mom, right? And I DID take the day off, so it's not like I have to impress anyone....except myself and all of you....

So, here is the rundown.

German Chocolate Cakepops--These turned out very delicious. I think they look nice, if not a little silly. I think next time I'll stick with white or chocolate coating rather than red/green. The green candy melts were giving me a really hard time too, so that was a downer.

 Red candy melts, ready to be melted!

 Red cake pops....please note the kick ass rolling pin in the background!

 a little flair...

 Here are the green ones

and the white ones, which I think look the best...like snowballs!

Next up was finishing up the HUGS&COOKIES. MOMS Club cookie party is tomorrow. Today I went out and got the wine, fondue, and other goodies. So all that was left was finishing up the cookies. Here's how they look:

They really speak for themselves. They actually have an artificial look about them that both Hubby and I think is pretty cool. I can't wait to show these babies off to my friends...and see what kinds of cookies they have made for the exchange. With 33 ladies in attendance, I'm excited (LOVE my mom friends), nervous (my house is SMALL and my HUG will be sleeping), and anxious (I return to work tomorrow).

Finally, the toffee. This toffee is amazing....if you make it right. Which for the first time EVER, I have! I got the recipe from my Aunt Nancy who got it from a "Mrs. Barclay." Mrs. Barclay made my aunt promise that she would never give the recipe away...so when I asked for it, she actually said NO the first time! Since Mrs. B has since passed away, though, Aunt Nancy decided it would be OK to give it to me and me only. I had to promise to keep this recipe top secret, which I have. Maybe one day, I'll decide to pass it along to one of my favorite bakers, but until then, my lips are sealed. 

Let's just say this is not diet food....and it takes a while to make

 See how dark it's getting? It's so important not to let it burn!

 The pour! I was reciting my mantra "don't melt the silpat" the whole time. The silpat was triumphant!

 You can never go wrong when you drench something in chocolate...it's like a huge Heath bar

 See, it's bigger than my head!

 Oh yeah, and Go Steelers!

Almost Overwhelmed...

In the last 24 hours over 200 cookies or confections have come out of my oven. I've loved every second of it. From the planning to the timing to the actual execution--it's been a great day! So, what did I bake?

• Chocolate Chip Cookies--traditional--for my husband's office party
• German Chocolate Cakeballs--these will be finished tomorrow. Inspired by my co-worker Danielle and www.bakerella.com, these will be featured in my cookie exchange on Sunday
• Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies--These are for the first annual HIDA bakeoff at my work on Thursday
• Traditional HUGS&COOKIES--These are for my MOMS Club cookie exchange taking place on Wednesday

So, now for some photos...

Not much is more beautiful than butter and sugar in the bottom of a bowl...

While the cookie dough is in the fridge, Cakeballs....just crumbled cake and icing!

 Time to roll out the dough with my NEW rolling pin. Merry Christmas to me!

 Fresh from the oven...stars, mittens, and ornaments

 No, these are not wieners...they are Christmas lights.

 Even more shapes! I love the details on the snowflakes!

Go Tribe! I started with green and gold...

and here are my decorating sprinkles!

 Pistachio cookie batter

and the final cookies! There is pudding in the mix, so they keep their shape.

Before going to pick up the baby, it was a MUST that I cover everything up. If he were to  spot them, there would be no peace until he got one! Luckily, the towels worked and the cookies are still safe. One got mysteriously broken, though....and of course Hubby was there to eat the "mistake."

Here we are! My little HUG. He's not eating a cookie, it's actually an ornament from the tree (that of course ended up broken about 5 seconds later...)

Stay tuned! More cookies tomorrow including the dipped cakepops, final HUGS&COOKIES, and my super secret recipe toffee. I can't wait to share that story!

Back to the hugs for a minute...

This weekend we accomplished a TON. Got a Christmas tree, decorated said Christmas tree, bought some gifts, hung out with Emmett's grandma, met friends for lunch, saw Santa, and busted up Emmett's nose.

Yes, you read correctly.

Emmett is now the proud owner of the Baby Roethlisberger nose. It's not broken like Big Ben's, but it looks just as sore. We were on our way to go see Santa. Emmett wanted to take a little walk as we waited for daddy. I saw him fall but thought nothing of it--he's 1. He falls all the time. It looked like a regulation fall to me, but I guess I didn't get the angle right because when he started crying...there was blood. Poor little guy bit his lip. It was big and puffy and quite honestly, ugly.

Little did we know that hours later this sidewalk burn would blossom into a full Rudolph!

(me and Emmett in our Steeler gear--thanks, Grams!)

 See how sad Emmett is? He needs some Christmas Spirit (My lovely

friend Angela was nice enoughto Photoshop out the red nose)

Fat lip--poor guy!

Cookies are coming--I have two cookie exchanges coming up, so I'll be sure to get some cookies up here soon!

And now for some cookies

Have you heard? Having a baby is cool. It's the new lap dog. We're not getting any younger, right? Well, in terms of cookie baking, this is great news. The uber talented graphics designer at my office is gloriously pregnant with a little boy. Watching her get more and more preggers is the highlight of my day.

Cooky, these cookies are for you! I hope you have a wonderful shower this weekend!

Just so you know, the BIG cookies are about as big as an appetizer plate...6 in diameter? They are big. I loved making these cookies...I watched Glee and season 1 of Psych while decorating. It was a great way to slepnd my day off from work.

Let's try this again...

It's been over two years since I've blogged, so let's try this again.

9-5er by day, baker by night, and now a MOM 24/7. As you can imagine, the baking has taken a backseat. So, first, here's my #1 reason for living, slacking off in the baking department, smiling, etc.--my son. Emmett turned 15 months old yesterday! What a joy to behold. He can sing, he can dance, he can honk your nose....and he's beautiful (should I mention that he's a pill at times as wakes before the sun?).

Here with his cousin Lucia

27.2 lbs of love