Christmas Collage

Tags

ballet, Chicago, christmas, collage, cookies, daisy, family, gingerbread, holidays, nutcracker, photos, traditions

Happy holidays, everyone!  I absolutely love Christmas, and I always take lots of photos around Christmastime.  I put some of my favorites into a little collage for the blog.  Look forward to a post about my 2014 goals soon!

Clockwise from top left:

// Gingerbread cookies that I made with my boyfriend.  I love baking and decorating cut-out cookies.

// A pretty Christmas dinner salad and Christmas cracker!  Crackers are a tradition for my family… my cousins and I always open them at the same time and laugh about the silly gifts inside.

// The Auditorium Theater in Chicago.  My mom and I see The Nutcracker ballet every year, and I absolutely love the theater.  It’s very old, so watching a show there feels like going back in time!

// More cookies and I made with my family.  You can never have too many Christmas cookies!

// The yearly present pile at my grandparents’ house on Christmas.  These gifts were for 20 people, not just me!

// Daisy checking out the box of treats we got her for Christmas.  My sister and I spent about 15 minutes choosing treats for Daisy at Target.  We loved that Buddy Biscuits are made of natural ingredients that we would give to Daisy at home.  And they’re shaped like people!

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Gingerbread Cookies

Tags

baking, christmas, cookie, cooking, food, gingerbread, holiday, recipe

I know I’ve been posting many recipes lately, but I can’t help it.  I just keep cooking things and I want to share them!

Gingerbread cookies just shout “Christmas” to me.  They make the house smell wonderful, taste like a blend of wintery spices and sweets, and can be decorated to your heart’s content.  For an obsessive-compulsive cookie decorator like me, gingerbread cookies are perfect canvases.

These cookies are delicious and easy to make.  I chilled the dough for 1 hour in the freezer, then 1 hour in the fridge.  This yielded the perfect consistency for cutting out cookies.  This dough holds its shape well when baking, and the cookies look adorable!

Gingerbread Cookies from Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

2. Scoop dough onto a sheet of wax paper.  Wrap up the dough, and shape it into a disk.  Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

3. On a  floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets.

4. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm. Move to wire racks to cool.

    

Chicago Trip!

Tags

bakery, Chicago, chocolate, christmas, cupcake, dress, fancy, Foodlife, gingerbread, holiday, salad, sprinkles, staycation, vacation, water tower

My family and I took a mini vacation to Chicago!  We left around noon on friday, checked into our hotel, then headed to Foodlife in Water Tower Place where I got a ginormous veggie-filled salad and a wheat roll.  Foodlife is a big food court-style restaurant, but instead of fast food everything is better quality and so delicious.  If you’re ever in Chicago, stop by for lunch!

After lunch, I took it upon myself to try on crazy expensive dresses and not buy them…

We stopped to indulge in cupcakes from Sprinkles, aka the best cupcakes ever!  Mine was a dark chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting…

The hotel put little boxes of fancy chocolates on our pillows!

And this little gem.  Donald Trump would put his face on water bottles…

We woke up to a beautiful view of the Chicago River…

And fell asleep to it, too…

My mom and I in the hotel room… it was so luxurious and relaxing, I didn’t want to leave!

Seeing gingerbread houses like these makes me want to be a pastry chef…

Then I remember that I’m already in college.  Though baking all day would be fun.

Look!  Fondant snow people!

On Friday, my mom and I went to see The Nutcracker!  We go every year, and it is always amazing.  I absolutely love the venue: the  Auditorium Theater.  Being there makes me feel like I’ve traveled back in time, with all the gold and the ornate décor…

It was a great trip with the family, and Chicago is an awesome place to do some last-minute Christmas shopping!  I can’t believe Christmas is tomorrow; this year has flown by!

Merry Christmas Eve!