The 2012 Christmas season has been a unique one for the DillyDally family. This has been our first (and I pray our last) holiday with a completely empty nest. Because of their careers, neither Sister or Brother were able to come home ... and we were unable to travel due to Mr. DD's work. We are a family steeped in multigenerational holiday traditions ... we just couldn't motivate ourselves to maintain them without family. After much discussion ( and a bit of whining) we decided that the best way to tackle this difficult situation was to shake things up. We decided to put some traditions aside and change the sequence of those we would keep.
I usually do a lot of baking ... all of it completed before the holidays. This year I have cut down on the number of items ... am baking gradually throughout the holiday break ... and I am only making ONE batch of each recipe! I cannot remember mixing up less than a double batch of cookies! Too funny!
I did decide to make a gingerbread house ... and began the process a couple of weeks before the holiday break.
I am not a professional cake decorator ... so I keep it very simple. It was fun ... helped me get into the Christmas spirit ... and makes the house smell great!
I made Mr. DD's favorite holiday cookies ... Peanut Butter Blossoms.
I also made my favorite ...
... Swedish Pepparkakor! They taste heavenly with a hot cup of coffee! A few former students are coming by to visit ... they have requested sugar cookies ... so I will be baking them tomorrow morning!
I must admit, it has been relaxing to make small batches of just a few items ... very different from my usual holiday baking routine.
Hmmm ... do you see what I noticed today? Look closely at the rooftop gumdrops ... specifically the last one on the right. It appears that someone has been snacking!
Kysa is off the hook on this one ... her nibble would have resulted in taking down the whole roof! I know I didn't do it ...
... so that leaves Mr. DillyDally or Flicka! Mr. DD isn't very sneaky, so I'm pretty sure this innocent face is guilty! ;-)
This is a dishtowel I received from a friend for Christmas. I love it! Food often is how we show our affection for one another. Making our loved ones their favorite foods ... using recipes that have been handed down for generations ... yep, it is all about love! Even though I scaled back on my holiday baking, it remains a wonderful way to dillydally!
Do what you love. Bake for those you love. Do dillydally!
Mrs. DillyDally
I bake for Christmas gifts...my sour cream pound cake is the most sought after gift, this year I only made 9 but it looks like next year I'll have to start earlier.
ReplyDeleteSounds like y'all had the same kind of Christmas we had...low key, next year family time.
You still made Christmas a tasty and beautiful holiday, even with an empty nest. I have to admit that I have never made a gingerbread house. Your house is "sweet" and the Swedish Pepparkakor cookies look yummy! Is your family Swedish? I am with you about food; it shows love. I didn't make many cookies this year, but I did make a roast pan full of stuffed cabbage rolls for Christmas Eve and some blackberry pie.
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