Working for the weekends

...which could almost apply to any time of the year, however, it seems like lately we've been jamming in lots of good busyiness on the weekends. This Friday I took my mom to our annual Christmas concert since I decided not to splurge on the Nuctracker tickets. Saturday our friends Nick & Anne were up to go skiing and we tried Sala Thai, which I'd never been to. It was excellent--esp. this dish we tried that had squash and potatoes in the curry sauce (I can't remember the name). We did a little Christmas shopping with my in-laws yesterday as they very generously brought us a fresh tree they had cut down that morning; the house smells amazing. I spent the rest of the day pulling out Christmas decorations and listening to Christmas music while doing it, which is a tradition from my family. I'm really looking forward to all that's coming up--lots of separate family Christmases, due to peoples' traveling schedules, a few holiday parties, more cookie baking (I made these gems last week with my cookie ladies), and hopefully light tours.

Fun yet relaxing

The best recipe for a weekend: getting to relax, seeing friends/family and being productive. I went to the co-op in preparation for making Curried Butternut Squash soup. It's the best thing about fall, and it's really easy. I make a giant batch and then eat half of it for about a week and freeze the rest. Friday nights I've become accustomed to just sitting. In front of the TV. Nothing else really happens, but I am able to pare down my TV's DVR list. I love it. Saturday morning I had a catch up coffee with my wonderful friend, Jen; I swear 3 hours once every other month isn't enough! We are going to try to get together more often. Saturday afternoon, Corey and our friends Niki & Justin headed south for a BBQ/get together at our college friends'. I was prepared for cold temps, dressed in a sweater, with a vest, scarf and boots packed in the trunk. I opened the car door upon our arrival and people were wearing shorts. It turned out to be a glorious day. Sunday we went to Tom & Kim's to make cookies (I sprung for the GF ones) and that night had a wee dinner party with them and the Hedayatis. I didn't take a picture of the spread but it was great! I don't always look forward to Sundays (due to impending Mondays) but what better way to spend it?



I had to put this in here because 1) the look on everyone else's face is hilarious (I can only wonder what conversation was ensuing); and 2) my rump is the victim of the non-timed photo.


The Hedayatis' first visit to our house (we are all doped up on sugar & lots of food):

Cookie extravaganza

Jen and Dory came over tonight and we baked a bounty of cookies. We prefaced our calorie gorge with a good morning workout that included a one-mile run--which, as distant memories of the half marathon fade, seems like hundreds of miles--and some weights. We started a tad bit late but thankfully by 11:45 pm we had wrapped things up. When you can have this much fun--making cookies while listening to HCJr., drinking wine and chatting all the while--one should never bake alone.

The mother of all cookie lists

Whoa, nelly. My sister sent me this list yesterday. Pretty much any cookie recipe you would ever want is included. You will never have to hunt again.


My book club is doing our 2nd annual cookie swap this weekend! My very favorite Christmas cookies are as follows:

1. spritz
2. cutouts
3. chocolate covered pretzels

I know my mom has most of her recipes from my grandma Helen, and I recently bought a special recipe book where I want to document and treasure all of them. I know some of her specialities were rosettes and doughnuts. What's your favorite Christmas cookie?

Mothers, daughters & irish coffees

The Saturday before Christmas, my mom and I were invited to our neighbor's house to bake cookies and to spend time with some lovely women I have known all of my life. Gina was home from San Fransisco, so it was a great excuse to get together, eat great food and catch up. There was some serious cookie production going on, but there was also several hours there that just included laughing and reminiscing about the good ol' days in our neighborhood (oh yes, and drinking wine, too). We'll have to make an annual tradition of this event. There's a great saying I was thinking of as we were taking pictures: Here's to great women--may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.