Christmas has come and gone. I hope you have all had a nice time with your family and friends, I know that I did. I spent my holiday time with my family, we opened our stockings filled with little goodies and then opened our presents. I was really excited with everything and was excited watching other people open their special gifts especially the ones from me.

We had turkey dinner at my place meaning I got to cook it. I was stressing over it a bit but once it got in the oven I felt much better and didn't realize how simple it is to cook it. Now carving it was another story.......I guess I just don't have the patience to slice it just right, I ended up cutting huge slabs of meat with the electric knife. At that point I just didn't really care, I could barely think anymore from the cooking stages, the many visitors here, and the lack of coffee in me. But luckily everyone ate up and enjoyed it all. Then it was time for my least favourite thing.......the clean up.

All in all it was a good day and I can now enjoy the next few days off to relax, or can I?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Baking...Baking...Baking

I have been fortunate this week having only to pick up the 2 older children from school at 3, so with all my extra time in the morning I figured I had time for a little baking. I planned out what I was going to bake, made my list and headed off to the grocery store and the lovely Bulk Barn. I first had to consult with my Grandma on a recipe and she seemed delighted that I enjoyed some of her favourite desserts.

The next day I began my bakefest.....I started with one of my favourites....well they're all are my favourites or I wouldn't have made them. Anyway, I made some soft ginger cookies and some date squares, the date squares did not exactly turn out the way I expected, and actually I ended up burning them as at one point I forgot to put the timer back on.....OOPS! The recipe I used was from one of the Internet websites, but then I remembered about this great recipe book I got for Christmas last year. It is one of the best because it has all the old family recipes in it dating back to my great great grandparents. The recipes were found in some old books and written by them. Very cool. As I was referring to this book my great Aunt had a recipe for Matrimonial Squares aka date squares. So I thought I would try it again and they turned out great.....I should have known better than to mess with family recipes.

The next day I attempted the recipe from my Grandma, apparently they are called saucepan cookies, not a very original name, but I do remember how much I liked them when she made them for us last year. It seemed easy enough but as I progressed I realized that there may be some things are better to just eat than to make. I think I will leave this one for my Grandma to make. I also made some macaroon cookies and the classic Rice Krispie Squares with sparkles on top.

I still plan on making shortbread and sugar cookies but I just ran out of time and honestly I am not looking forward to it. I don't really like getting too messy and these cookies will be messy and probably frustrating at times. We'll see.

Clockwise: ginger cookies, rice krispie squares, macaroon cookies, saucepan cookies. Centre: date squares

It Is Cold

I can't believe that Jack Frost is showing up on our doorsteps already. It seems like we didn't get to finish off with Fall properly, and BANG winter is here. Now, it is not that I don't like winter, I mean there are lots of fun things to do throughout the winter. Skiing, skating on the Rideau Canal, seeing the Lights, building snow castles, snowmen and snow angels. I love the snow, really I do, it's just the cold that seems to get to me. In Ottawa we don't get it as bad as some other places in Canada but it does last for a long time, and by February we are looking for it to all go away and for the warm air to return. We are expecting a lot of snow over night tonight. It always look nice with the snow but causes a lot of headaches trying to get to and from work. I expect a lot of delays tomorrow.

I am advancing the distance in my runs now working up to the Half. Today I ran 14 km in the snow and minus temperatures. I am so glad that I have decided to do this with other people or I may have given up by now. It takes a lot to get up in the morning and run. I hope that I can last until the end of January when the race takes place.