Christmas 2010 - Part 1

We get Thursday and Friday off of work, but I really don't use my vacation time and I'm all caught up at work anyway, so I took Monday through Wednesday off too.  I wish I had more time to play in the kitchen because if I want to make stuff for coworkers, I have to do it before they all go on vacation too.

Chloe, Roman, and I started on Monday with some sugar cookie dough and I baked a cake to make cake pops with.

Tuesday, I made peanut butter fudge, a gingerbread house, and shaped the cones for my cake pops. And how come nobody ever told me how easy peanut butter fudge is to make! There was a guy that I worked with several years ago (now retired) whose wife made the most amazing peanut butter fudge that I've ever eaten.  Had I known that it was just a cup of peanut butter, a CUP of BUTTER, and a POUND of powdered SUGAR, I'd have been making it all along myself!  That evening, a couple girls from my Girl Scout troop came over and we baked the sugar cookies. I've baked with them several times in the kitchen of the church where we meet, but there's little work space and it just wasn't the same as my kitchen. So I've really been wanting to do some real cooking with them.  Wednesday, I went in to work for a little bit to deliver some sugar cookies and peanut butter fudge to coworkers, and then I came home and cleaned up my mess(es).

Thursday, Walter was off work too and we had a leisurely day.  I made pancakes (and coffee) for the family.  We had lunch at our favorite soup/salad buffet and spent the rest of the day at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

Today, we finished the log of cookie dough and made cookies for Santa.  And I finally got some quiet time to finish my cake pops.  They turned out so cute!!

Another thing I love is Christmas music.  I've had it playing non-stop pretty much since Black Friday. My radio station plays it 24/7 between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But we also have it streaming via Pandora through the house speakers.  When the kids are around, we listen to the Disney Holiday station where they play the cutesey Chipmunk and Donald Duck versions of the songs, and then we'll put on the Manheim Steamroller Christmas station where they play the dramatic bells and guitar versions of the songs.  And when I'm feeling extra holiday-ish, I'll put on the Christmas station that plays the Enya version of Oh Come Emmanuel. My favorite carol is Oh Holy Night, especially the version sung by Josh Groban or Placido Domingo.  I love when they power through the line, "Fall on your knees...." and I just imagine the feeling of being in the presence of the living Jesus and not being able to overcome the compulsion to fall on your face in worship.

Watch this and remember who we're celebrating. The king and creator of the universe, people.  Merry Christmas to all of you.