Thanksgiving is over . . . on to Christmas Baking!

The last of the Thanksgiving leftovers created dinner last night. The refrigerator is back to it's normal, roomy state so it is time to start organizing Christmas baking. No one seems to mind the gift of a plate of homemade cookies! My husband has a thee-day weekend coming up and he will be my helper in keeping up with the dishes, chopping nuts and fruits, and keeping track of the timer. He may even be called up for a mad rush to the store for something I may forget to include on my list. I was blessed to find an outlet for Hazelnuts so will be able to make cookies that I've been anxious to try except for the lack of this particular nut. I found them on a health/vitamin site which was having a sale so got an extraordinary discount on what is usually an expensive item.

I'll post recipes and pictures as they happen in the coming days of baking. I have a few tried and true recipes that show up on every Christmas cookie plate but always sneak in a few new and adventurous ones. So far, no complaints on that!

They may be over 18, but . . .

 We had seven young people at the Thanksgiving dinner table and they were all 18 or older. The child in them was still evident when I glanced over and saw the addition my daughter had made to her brother's dinner plate. Be assured they were plastic toys but they looked all too realistic! I guess there is a lot of 'child' in me, too, as I ran for the camera and am now sharing this with the world!

An Afternoon of Cats!

 Over the years, I've accumulated several lengths of fabric with cat pictures. The initial idea for their use didn't pan out so I was happy to come up with a need for the fabric and happily spent an afternoon putting thought into practice!

We recently had someone adopt two of the stray cats that were camping on our front step. They offered just a week before we would have had to either take them to the shelter or have them put down - neither was a happy solution for these beautiful animals. Well, a gentlemen contacted me and even though he has six cats of his own, said he would give a home to the two, beautiful strays. Given he and his sisters love of cats, what better way to thank them then personalized Christmas stockings with nothing but cats on them.