Holiday Baking Day

Mmm... Fresh out of the oven Mr. Goodcookies!

This is officially holiday baking Day 1. It’s break time after finishing the Mr. Goodcookies. I’ll have some soup for lunch and then go on to start the first batch of brownies. This year, in addition to the Davinities staples, Krisp Kringles and Mr. Goodcookies, the sweet theme is Brownie Madness! There will be four different gourmet brownies. I bake in segments so everything is fresh when presented. I give or serve Davinities in three places. UNO and the Fabulous Dessert Bar, which is the Saturday before Christmas and for two family gatherings, one in Michigan and one in Connecticut. I’ll bake the same Davinities twice and then I do a pair of Crostadas twice. I’ve been taking some pictures along the way too!

The greatest thing I’m getting for the Capture the Season assignments is remembering to take pictures of the little things, the steps in between. I have a digital camera. It’s not like I’m wasting film! A long time ago, I read in the Mensa magazine the greatest tip for taking fantastic vacation pics– shoot like there’s no film and don’t be afraid to throw away the runners up. That was the hardest part for me. I have a strange, almost ancient Native American, feeling about pictures of people. It’s almost like throwing the person away! Thanks to digital, I can use the best photos, throw them all on a CD, date it and store it. You never know when you’ll want to resurrect those memorable goofy-faced photos that you didn’t use in the scrapbook or when a major physical change will warrant fishing out those less flattering photos for a stellar before and after. Think about weight-loss or gain, the braces/glasses that flared from the flash or too long hair unkempt and in a face would even be a good one to use after a new coif. So throwing all the photos whether or not I use them on a storage CD works for me. I can usually fit a full year of taking tons of pictures on a storage formatted DVD. I also pay a LOT less for all those shots, take more and get better “keepers!”

So, here is the result of shopping for holiday baking:

And here are some of the fruits!

I got a knock on the door while I was making the Mr. Goodcookies. It was a knock and then gone before I could put they tray I’d just taken out of the oven down. That’s the way deliveries are made, especially at this time of the year! UPS knocks so you come to the door if you’re home, but the package is left on the doorstep. Today was the first of my online treasures to arrive this year. I won’t go into details because, as my friend, Edna noted on her blog, you never know who is reading!

I love cyber-shopping! My knee and back walking problems notwithstanding, it beats battling traffic and crowds in the stores, hoping to find what you seek from the bin of picked over merchandise. From the special gift I could only find in Virginia a couple of years ago to gift cards from stores they don’t have at Giant Eagle, the world is my Mall and I can bake or scrap while I shop! I was reading a customer review for the item that came in today and was a bit confused at one comment. The commenter said it was a great item, but one he would NOT buy online because he bought one in the store and most of the ones they had were scratched and one was even broken. That was certainly enough to tell me it was something I’d ONLY buy online. Direct from the warehouse to me with no one else looking through all of them and scratching them up. I took this out of the box and it’s perfect, no scratches! I have a little more I’m planning to add to it, but I can’t wait to give it!

Taste of the season!

I know if David reads this, he’ll comment to me that it’s ALWAYS pumpkin season for me. Not true! Pumpkin is a fall through about the middle to end of January. That’s about when the stock of seasonal stuff I’ve collected dries up, but it’s special because it’s NOT always pumpkin season! There are just some things that are especially good when they have that seasonal tag on them. After groceries yesterday, I had my McEggnog Shake. I may have another one, but I really have to have just one to feel official about it. The McDonald’s Eggnog shakes aren’t like pumpkin spice coffee, but I sure like them! Eggnog is one of those flavors that is really a just for a couple weeks flavor craving. I do like the real thing, but an eggnog FLAVORED shake has far less cholesterol than that yummy concoction that I don’t want to see made!

Okay, now it’s brownie time! I’ll check in a bit later.