Wednesday, December 26, 2018

The day after Christmas


... and I'm still in the kitchen! 

These Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies were on my baking list, but I hadn't gotten them baked.  I was actually just going to skip it when I remembered a cookie tray I planned to make for a friend who'll have a houseful of 20-somethings starting tomorrow.  The house was chilly and I thought baking was not a bad way to warm it up.

One thing I was reminded of about these cookies, though -- my usual trick of replacing all-purpose flour with the Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour just doesn't work well with this recipe.  They spread out too much -- a fact that I would have known if I had followed my grandmother's good advice of baking a test cookie.  Be that as it may, these cookies will still go on the cookie tray even though imperfect.

I also made a crockpot full of chicken soup for friends who had planned to drop by today, but they ended up rescheduling to tomorrow.  The soup will go in the fridge until then.

So, I also promised to give a bit of an update on our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day doings.  Let's see.

Christmas Eve -- Mr. T worked that day.  I took a cookie tray to our neighbors across the street, and another to my walking partner and her hubby.  She was unable to get away for a walk that day but we took time for a cup of tea and a half-hour visit. 

On Christmas Eve, we usually have two of our local granddaughters over for supper (our traditional Christmas Eve Soup) and have our Christmas with them at that time.  This year, all that changed because of some travel plans and so we have rescheduled to early January.  That meant our own Christmas Eve looked different, and that's okay.  We had leftovers for supper, actually! 

After supper, we took time to open some of the lovely cards I received in a swap with my friends at the Christmas Friends craft forum.  It was my hubby's idea to brew some Candy Cane Lane to sip while I opened the cards and we both admired them.  The creativity of some people is downright amazing!  I had also received a link to a Cracker Barrel YouTube video featuring their gorgeous fireplace.  We admired the cards and sipped our tea in front of a snapping, crackling fire as seen on my tablet.  Just plain fun!

Christmas Day -- we began with this delicious Hearty Breakfast Egg Bake along with sourdough rye bread (from our neighbor Walter) and some clementines. 


Then Mr. T headed out to drop off some cookies and a card for his mother, and a large gift basket for his boss and family.  I accomplished a lot of gift wrapping while he was gone.  Upon his return, we delivered another neighborhood cookie tray and I finished the wrapping.

Around 3 pm we headed over to our daughter's (about 15 minutes away) for a delicious Christmas dinner of roast beef, ham, mashed potatoes, sauteed green beans, tossed salad with apples, craisins and homemade cranberry vinaigrette, and some amazing Parker House rolls.

After dinner the men and kids played games or tried out Christmas gifts while Carrie and I cleaned up the kitchen.  Then we opened gifts and just had such an enjoyable time together.  After awhile we brought out dessert, which was (you guessed it) a cookie tray, plus Eggnog Logs and Chocolate Spritz made by 14-year-old Sam, and Buckeyes made by 10-year-old Josiah.  Julia (12) helped Sam with the Eggnog Logs by imprinting the frosting with fork lines for "bark".  We enjoyed eggnog along with the cookies.


Then Mr. T and I returned home and watched the "Christmas Story" episode from Season 1 of the Andy Griffith Show.  We didn't have time for a movie, but this TV show episode gave the same flavor in less time. 

And that was our very nice Christmas!  I'm still savoring the season, though, even though the big day is over.


6 comments:

  1. This makes me smile that you are baking more cookies. I baked way too many this year, and even though I have been giving them away left and right, they seem to be all over my house. I am delivering two more sets of them today around ten. 🙃

    Your Christmas eve and Christmas day sounds so pleasant with time to be with family and friends and time to be together. Oddly enough, I have also, for the first time ever, been watching old Christmas shows like Ozzie and Harriet, The Honeymooners, and even some old variety shows like Andy Williams Christmas. The nostalgia that hits is almost overwhelming.

    Sparkle on, Mrs. T!

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    1. I am making good use of all the cookies. Took a tray to church on Sunday and am taking some tomorrow (Saturday) as we mobilize a crew to help friends move into their brand-new mobile home.

      That is a good idea to watch Christmas episodes of some of those old shows. The only one we had was the Andy Griffith one and we always enjoy it. Did you find yours on YouTube or somewhere else?

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  2. I love hearing about your special days and now you have more to look forward to in January! I am going to catch up on my journal posts tonight. There's as many different ways to celebrate as there are different people and life changes have to be taken into consideration. Quiet is good. Your grands are dlightful making some of the desserts! Thay must take after their Grandmother!!
    May I wish you a HAPPY New Year!!!

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  3. You're so right ... quiet is good!

    I really can't imagine the noise level if all of the grands were together. The local ones are fun-loving but for the most part they are not loud. Yes, they do enjoy baking and I was tickled that they chose some of our traditional Christmas cookies to make.

    Happy new year to you and Louis Dean as well!

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  4. What a wonderful time you had! Lovely picture of the grandchildren.

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    1. Thanks, Lucie! It really was a wonderful Christmastime.

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