Well our Christmas tree is still a bit Charlie Brown looking because I got tired/bored with putting up ornaments, so it just has the big ones, no bobbles. The thought of wrapping the balls all up after Christmas wore me out, so I stopped while I felt there was just enough on it to call it decorated. The bottom two rows of limbs are practically bare with the exception of lights—I will tell you that it was because we did not know how Ferris would react to the tree while we were at work during the day, but I really just ran out of steam. Oh well…
The cards are done and will go out tomorrow. Nothing fancy—I actually had the forethought to buy cards after last Christmas at a good price in case this year was hectic, even though I am a handy card maker. Well, the storeboughts came in handy, so there you go.
My problem is that I always put too much on my list. My resolution for my new year (which will begin when my digestive tract is regular following my last chemo treatment on Jan. 11th—think of it like a fiscal year…I can say it starts whenever I want) is to live simply. I resolve to only make three goodies for next Christmas’ treat boxes. I will spend the next year perfecting them. Perhaps the date nut pinwheel will have to go to an every other year rotation. Brilliant! I mean, after all, I’m not Martha bloody Stewart. Although, I think very highly of her, so yak it up you Martha-haters.
Baking was tragic this year, really. I started with the monster cookies, which I made the first two trays way too big, then overcooked em. Keith has loved those—burnt is practically his favorite cookie flavor. The next batch was the right size, but still overcooked. I have been like this child who refuses to learn from her mistakes through all of this. The date-nut pinwheel dough refused to come together—I am blaming the wheat flour at this point. They still taste good though, but the dough doesn’t have that smoothness that makes it the best old-fashioned cookie. The chocolate cutout cookies—a recipe I worked on last Christmas, has finally reached the correct choco-goodiness, but I burnt the first batch into smithereens. I baked another batch, but have been waiting to attempt Martha Stewart style icing, so I bought the tips, got out my bags, put it all together the way I remember Grams doing it in the kitchen, filled it with an icing recipe from Joy of Cooking, and the tip got clogged on the second cookie. I switched to the bigger tip, since I remembered to use couplers, and still not coming out. I think the butter was not smooth enough. What exactly is room temperature anyway?!!! Science people in my life, seriously, I need an answer to this! I stood there patiently tonight, cut my tip out of the bag, threw the bag and goopy icing away and put all of the undecorated trees in a container to give as is. I did dishes and tried to forget this ever happened. Instead, I melted the chocolate for peanut clusters—after all, who could mess those up? Don’t even get me started on the turtles…apparently they are already on the every other year rotation.
