here's what I'm doing today...

baking some of these.  Double Chocolate Chunk cookies...with cherries.... mmm... and with the link....reprising an old post from 2009 on my other blog.. Tea and Scones .... and.... figuring out how to make some photos smaller so that I can continue loading them ..even though I am nearly at 98% as far as blogger is concerned ( and, thank you to Catherine for helping me figure that one out)! I guess other people probably figured all of this out long before I did.  I AM a bit slow.
And...perhaps my way is still a bit convoluted... I am now exporting them to my documents..in smaller size and then uploading them from there to blogger... but, it does make them much smaller files to upload so perhaps I will have to go back through many postings.......and reload the pics.... smaller.....oh, dear...... I see a lot of work ahead of me......sigh...... or...I could just pay a few bucks and add more space to my blog....
Anybody have a better solution?  If so, please let me know.....

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Recycling the good stuff....

Just a little blurb about yesterday's Christmas card in my tree...well, actually.... the several cards in the tree...every year.  Yesterday's was one from my sister one year ....

I hate to throw away pretty cards... especially those with a bit of bling and also some special meaning. They are perfect for that dark spot...or that wonky spot or ... well, anywhere in the tree actually, where you want a bit of "something" that the balls and other decorations just aren't providing....


This one I just cut around the edge of the gold trimmed centre of a lovely card.... it stays in the Christmas decorations box....been there about 6 years now.... love it...

Store bought cards are horribly expensive and some are perfect for this... and... those beautiful handmade cards? .. well,  they 're just too special to chuck in the garbage.

With some, I save the whole front of a card...some, I just save the middles...or maybe only a particular piece.  Yesterday's ... the whole front...cut with deckle edged scissors...and strategically placed in the tree.. lights shining just so onto it.

You can make labels or tags with the smaller pieces... or use them on your own handmade cards next year... or... well, I am sure you can think up other uses for them as well.  I have a box full of them for when I think of other things to do with them.  It doesn't take up any space at all in my big storage area... just stack it with my other 4 or 5 boxes of things.  The origami papers (oh, yes...don't forget...save all the beautiful foil type wrapping papers too...for those!!  (they only need 3 pieces of 3 X 3 inches each) If you don't want to make any...save it for me! Send me a few bits and pieces in a card envelope.... hey!  I could make you a few and send them back to you next year.... hahahha... oh, yeh...what else?

There is a box of walnut mice....another box of whole cards for making boxes... some boxes of greenery for making some table centres and arrangements.. and,  ... oh, alright, alright....... I admit it.  I have several more boxes ...of all sorts of things for Christmas and other crafts.  Sigh...

Must p.u.r.g.e.  Maybe it's time to give away some of the stuff I just know I'm not going to use anymore.... wish I knew locals who want to do some crafting....

here are the links to last year's card posts...

Better get a move on... today I'm making soup from the tiny chicken carcass... foccaccia bread to go with soup for supper...another 'nog loaf....and oh, ... better do some treadmill.  The Christmas goodies are beginning to show...around my middle.....

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Don't panic!!

I know there is very little time left and some folks get so caught up in the whole festive season hype....   Of course, it's only my humble opinion...but, I'm sure they just try to do too much.  Sometimes simple ..or at least simpler... is better.  Really.

It's all gotten so commercial hasn't it?  Maybe it's time to mutiny or rebel... just do it a whole new way.  Or... go back to the old ways.... well, at least some of the old ways.  They weren't all great...

Here's a suggestion, for what it's worth.  If you still plan to do some special baking... make it "special".   Do one fabulous thing instead of a lot of "stuff". Trim it or plate it in grand style...and that could be it.  How about Cranberry Coffee Cake?















If you want a great seasonal loaf... try Eggnog Christmas Loaf with Buttered Rum Glaze.  Can't go wrong with that one! A fancy plate.. a bit of gold ribbon.. a few ornaments...and just the loaf itself...they'll be drooling.  It is droolworthy. And... make a few more after Christmas with the leftover 'nog... double wrap and freeze for oh,.. say... July?  YUMMY !!  I love Christmas in July.  Can't believe I can't find a photo of one of the lovely loaves...  I'll look again tomorrow.....

Press somebody into helping with cute Chocolate covered maraschino cherry cookies...  cuties... they are a bit fiddly for one person, but, still not all that bad.....however, with another pair of hands... a snap.  Again... they look so special...  and worth the effort.  Everybody will be impressed.... it happens every year.  Look how cute.

And... biscotti.  For some reason, everybody thinks it is difficult to make.  Not so.  Even though I, myself, had a few hiccups this past week with my baking... biscotti is still a special and yet an easy biscuit to make.  Decorate by dipping into chocolate... drizzling with chocolate... sprinkling with nuts... and the combinations of ingredients is endless.  I have a few on the other blog...but, you could always just go to food.com and type in biscotti.  You'll be flooded with recipes!  Tomorrow I'd like to get some pistachio/cranberry biscotti done.  But...I also want  to do a bit of grocery shopping...and try on a blouse I saw the other day..oh... and do my treadmill.. so... eh... maybe the biscotti won't get done tomorrow.  There's still Friday...   and, I do have at least one eggnog loaf in the freezer........

Oh, my ... these just look so plain beside the other goodies... okay..then... scratch these for this year....

Christmas Stollen

More snow overnight yesterday and today... along with some wind and drifting...











A perfect day to stay home and bake... after shoveling for about 45 minutes... I tell myself it is my workout and I don't have to do any weights that day...











Yesterday I wanted to try a Christmas bread... so, after much "mulling" over, I decided on Bavarian Nut Stollen. The recipe seemed pretty intricate; I don't know how many times I read the darn thing and still I didn't feel any confidence about getting started. I am notoriously slow in the morning anyway... my eyes don't seem to focus well and my brain never really kicks in before noon most days. Yesterday must have been one of those days......it took forever to get moving in the right direction...




















Once I did, I was on a roll.... the kitchen got pretty crowded...I had every conceivable appliance on the go.... and all the countertops filled with "stuff".... but, I was baking Stollen, guys.... which meant there were actually two recipes on the go. One for the basic egg twist bread..and the other for the filling and glaze.














..... finally I got my head around what the recipe was trying to tell me....and lo and behold... Stollen!










The recipe made two loaves...and they were HUGE! Hanging off both sides of my cooling rack. About 8 inches across and a foot long each. Oh, and......... sooooo yummy!














At one point, the recipe actually warned me to tidy up and get ready to knead... hahahhaha ... whew... thank goodness somebody said it and I read it aloud... .. ... actually I had to refill the sink plenty of times during my busy baking spree because later in the afternoon I moved on to tarts ... ...my hands feel like velcro...... maybe today I'll just dust, tidy and decorate ...