After living in  South Florida for more years than I care to remember, I’ve gotten used to the subtle clues that signify the  change in seasons.  They’re hard to define, but over time one gets better at identifying them.  Some years, however, it seems like Mother Nature is downright schizophrenic.   Take this winter, for instance.   For a few days at a time, the temperature would dip down into the forties and for the next  week or two, it would spike back up to  seventy-five.    I’d leave my house in the morning wearing a cozy sweater, and by noon I’d be sweating bullets!  And, the plants and trees were confused too.   I had azalea bushes blooming in January, that were nothing more than a mass of barren, brown twigs by mid-February.

We had no real springtime this year either.   By the time St. Patrick’s Day rolled around, my weather thermometer hit eighty and never looked back.    I really missed that transition period!   But apparently, Summer was in a hurry to get here and  would not be delayed.  So, while the calendar tells us that we still have another six weeks for it to officially be summer, the weather says otherwise.

There are few things I like about summertime in Florida.  It’s miserably hot and impossibly humid.  Even abundant sunshine becomes unpleasant under those conditions.  And, you can forget about  growing beautiful, lush  fruits and vegetables in your garden unless you plan to stand outside all day long spritzing them with a hose.   It’s just too damn hot!   But, there are a few nice things that make the heat tolerable, not the least of which is air conditioning.  By the first of May, most of the tourists have evacuated, and I can once again get into any restaurant I want without an hour and a half wait.   Another thing that I like about this time of year, is that those ripe and juicy California strawberries start lining the produce aisles in our supermarkets.

You may have heard that Florida is considered the winter strawberry capitol of the world. From December to April, we are lucky enough to have fresh strawberries coming out of our ears. Then, for a month or two after the winter crop dries up, we’re stuck with sad little tasteless berries from Godknowswhere. That is, until those ruby-red California beauties arrive.

One of my favorite ways to use fresh strawberries is in a good old-fashioned, Southern-style strawberry shortcake.   Another thing I love to do is bake them into things like muffins and scones.  So, when I came across this recipe for a strawberry cake, I was intrigued.

This strawberry cake is pretty simple stuff.  It’s a basic, vanilla-scented yellow cake studded with a mass of fresh berries – a full pound to be exact.   From just looking at the recipe, you probably wouldn’t  guess it would be anything very special.  But, after baking one for myself, I am here to tell you that it most definitely is – although you might not realize it right away.

While baking, the cake kind of puffs up and envelops the strawberries, which go all melty and jammy and lusciously sweet.  They remind me a little of my roasted strawberries in that regard.   The cake itself has a soft and tender crumb, which manages to get the slightest crunch around the edges.  It’s sweet, but not cloyingly so, making it a perfect backdrop for the berries ensconced inside.   And, the cake really takes no time at all to whip up. The hardest part for me was sniffing around my oven as I waited for it to finish baking.   Then, as it sat cooling on my counter, that cake really began to draw me in.   I found myself slicing off a tiny sliver every time I walked through my kitchen.  I baked the cake early in the morning, and by mid-day it was almost half gone!   Try explaining that to hungry loved ones as you present a half-eaten cake at dinner time!

I can see this cake being made with various other fruits as well.  I suspect that blackberries, peaches, nectarines or plums would all be wonderful.

So, while I’m sweating out the next several weeks of almost-summer, it’s nice to know that I can have this strawberry cake to give me comfort.  That, and lots and lots of ice cream!

As I write this post, I’m hanging my head in shame.  You see, dear readers, I’ve been holding out on you.  Not intentionally, mind you, but holding out just the same.  The other day, as I was sifting through recipes to include in my Easter brunch roundup, I re-read my old post on Savory Vegetable Noodle Kugel and realized something.  In that post I told you about a fab recipe for a Cherry Noodle Kugel that I was going to share.  And, I never did.  I swear, I meant to!  It just never happened.  My sin was one of omission, and I intend to rectify it right now!    Since this week also marks the beginning of the Jewish celebration  of Passover, I think it’s the perfect time to do it.    Besides, it gives me an excuse to make this wickedly good kugel again.

Now, before I get thousands of comments informing me that Jews don’t eat wheat products during Passover, let me say that I do know that.  However, Passover is a Jewish holiday and kugel is a Jewish dish, so I’m using one to segue into the other.  Besides, I also know that there are “Passover noodles” made with potato starch, and other gluten-free pasta products available at the supermarket.  Any of them would work in this dish.

I acquired this recipe more years ago than I care to remember from a sweet, Jewish “Bubbe” named Esther.  She and her husband, Jerry, had been old friends of my family for ages.  Since my own grandparents were already gone, I kind of secretly adopted them as surrogates.  Esther was originally from Brooklyn, so she definitely knew a few things about kugel.  Come to think of it, she knew a few things about brisket too.  And, matzoh balls.  But that’s a story for another day. 

Where my vegetable kugel is a savory dish, Esther’s kugel is a sweet one, making it a great choice for dessert.  It also makes for a tasty breakfast and a very satisfying late night nosh.  It’s rich and creamy and fruity.  And, who doesn’t love that?

The recipe for this dish couldn’t be easier.  A simple custard made from eggs, milk, cream cheese, sour cream and sugar is whizzed up in the blender.  Then, it is poured over cooked egg noodles and baked.  A topping of cherry pie filling is added during the last fifteen minutes of baking time.  When everything is browned and bubbly, the kugel is done.  That’s it!

I like to use super fine egg noodles in this kugel, because it gives the dish a smoother, more custardy texture.   Feel free to use the wider ones if that’s what you prefer.  Your kugel won’t be any less scrumptious – and it will be scrumptious.

Whatever you celebrate, make. this. kugel.  You’ll be glad you did.  And, if Esther were here, she would be too.

I’ve always been somewhat of a food purist.  I’m probably the only person over the age of five that actually prefers a plain cheese pizza to one with a zillion toppings.  Pasta nirvana for me is a bowl of spaghetti with Marcella Hazan’s three ingredient tomato sauce.   And, I take my vanilla ice cream straight up – no add-ins, thankyouverymuch.   Actually, my very favorite ice cream flavor is fior di latte, which doesn’t even have vanilla in it.  It’s not that I don’t appreciate more complex flavor combinations, because I do.   But sometimes,  I just like to savor the purity of really good ingredients, like fresh, local, organic cream from happy cows; or sweet and juicy, ripened by the sun, heirloom tomatoes.  And, I love that soft tug against my teeth when I bite into a buttery, melting mass of fresh mozzarella that was made by real hands.

I like my panna cotta straight up as well.   I also enjoy it flavored different ways.  But to me, nothing says heaven more than a soft, pillowy cloud of simply sweetened, pristine creaminess, adorned  by nothing more than a smattering of fresh berries.    Oooh!  I get goosebumps just thinking about it!

Panna Cotta is one of the easiest desserts to make.  Yet, it is so elegant and luxurious, one would never guess.    This basic “fior di Latte”, or “flower of milk” panna cotta recipe only contains three ingredients: cream or milk, sugar and gelatin. That’s it!  And, you can whip up a batch in under fifteen minutes.   If you want to jazz your panna cotta  up a bit, you can add any number of different flavorings to the base, as well as a variety of toppings.  I’ve tried it with everything from instant espresso powder to  fruit purees.  It’s all good.    That’s why this recipe such a “must have” in anyone’s dessert repertoire.  Its ease and versatility make it perfect for every occasion.

Today, I’m sharing panna cotta “di due fiori”, i.e. “with two flowers”.  The first is the basic, unadulterated version, which can be topped with any kind of fresh fruit, gelée, or coulis.  The second one is a panna cotta di fiori di arancia, which translates to orange flowers.  Both recipes are identical, except that I’ve added some orange flower water to flavor the second one.  Orange flower water is a popular ingredient in Italian desserts.  It has a subtle floral quality, and is wonderfully fragrant.  You can find orange flower water at most Italian or Middle Eastern markets, as well as online.

I’ve garnished my plain panna cotta here with fresh blueberries and the orange ones with some of the candied kumquats that I made last week.  Candied orange peel would also be a good choice.  Or, you could just leave it plain and revel in its silky creaminess and sublime simplicity.

You know, I wasn’t even planning to write about these cupcakes. They were just a quickie Valentine’s Day treat I whipped up at the last minute when my original plans went awry.  But, they turned out so well, that I just had to share them with you.  Isn’t it funny how these things happen?   I had originally planned to make a much fussier chocolate cake.  Unfortunately, it was a big, fat fail.  I didn’t have enough ingredients to remake it, so I then found myself scrambling around my kitchen to find something else that I could do instead.   My salvation came to me in a box of Devil’s Food cake mix.  Thank you, Duncan Hines!

Ordinarily, I would have never used a boxed cake mix. The crumb is usually too flimsy, and the chocolate ones are never chocolatey enough. But, I was desperate!

To bump up the chocolate factor, I added a few tablespoons of my richest cocoa powder to the mix. I also swapped out a cup of water for the same amount of strong brewed coffee. It worked like a charm! My cupcakes were moist, dense and full of deep, dark chocolate flavor.

I had just enough eggs left to attempt a silky Swiss buttercream to frost the cupcakes with.   I also had some of my wonderful slow roasted strawberries in the fridge, so I decided to use them to flavor the buttercream.   The strawberries are roasted in a mixture of sugar and balsamic vinegar, so they are slightly caramelized and intensely flavorful – a perfect addition to the buttercream.

The final flourish to my cupcakes was a super rich bittersweet chocolate glaze drizzled over their tops.

My inspiration for the cupcakes, as well as the glaze recipe, came from one of my new favorite blogs, Sweetapolita.  It is filled to the brim with the most magnificent cakes I’ve ever seen.  Honestly, it’s absolutely stunning!  If you haven’t ever visited Rosie’s beautiful blog, you must do it now.   Go ahead, I’ll wait.

See!  Didn’t I tell you it was fabulous?

And, don’t these cupcakes look impossibly indulgent?  They are sinfully good!  Would you have ever guessed that they got their start in a cardboard box?   Neither did all of the people I gave them to.  And, don’t you dare tell them, either.  I have a reputation to maintain!

As a teen, I remember having lots of conversations with my mother about dating and relationships.  Of her many “isms”, the one I heard most was “Looks aren’t everything.  It’s what’s on the inside that matters.”    Of course, she was right, but my superficial 16 year old brain didn’t always agree.  Before I settled down with Mr. SGCC, I dated a wide variety of boys.  Some were blindingly beautiful, and some had other, less obvious attributes.  More often than not, the pretty boys turned out to be a disappointment.   They were usually too busy flexing their muscles and  gazing at their own reflections in the mirror to worry about such mundane things as developing  a personality or perfecting the art of conversation.  Though I hate to admit it, it was almost always the slightly rumpled, kind of quirky guys that I had the best times with.  They were the ones that made me laugh and feel special.  They had substance.

Oddly enough, I’ve found the same thing to be true when it comes to desserts.  I can’t count the times I’ve drooled over a display of stunningly perfect pastries or cakes, only to be disappointed when I took that first bite.  Sadly, they don’t often taste as good as they look.   I guess looks aren’t everything in the world of sweets either.  This Chocolate Pavlova Torte with Raspberry Dream Cream is a good example.  On the outside, it looks kind of craggy, drippy and messy.  It wears its flaws for the world to see.  But on the inside, it is crunchy, creamy and chewy all at the same time.  It has personality up the wazoo.  And, it is truly sublime! 

A pavlova is a meringue-based dessert with a crisp, crackly outer shell and a lovely, soft, pillowy center.  It is said to have been created in honor of the famed 20th century Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova.  It’s a light and ethereal dessert that is often served covered with fresh fruit and whipped cream.  In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve taken it a step further, studding mine with bits of rich dark chocolate and smothering it with an incredible silky and luxurious raspberry cream.

My Raspberry Dream Cream is inspired by Pierre Herme’s Extraordinary Lemon Cream found in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home To Yours. I am absolutely mad about that lemon cream! So, when it came to finding a filling for my chocolate pavlova, I decided to adapt Dorie’s recipe using raspberries instead.   The method for making the cream is similar to that for making a fruit curd.  The difference is that the butter isn’t cooked with the other curd ingredients.  Rather, it is added in after cooking and cooling them, creating an emulsion.  Dorie says that because the butter doesn’t melt and re-firm, as it does with curd, the resulting cream is lighter, richer and well… creamier.   I can’t vouch for the science involved, but I can say that the cream definitely lives up to its name.  It is extraordinary, and it tastes like a dream!

To make the pavlova shells, I used my favorite recipe by Nigella Lawson.  They aren’t really difficult at all to make, but baking them can be a little tricky.  It is important to cool them completely inside the oven after baking to avoid having them collapse.  They are still delicious even if they do fall.  But, why not avoid that if you can.

You can see from the photos that my pavlova shells did not turn out perfectly.  Honestly, I didn’t dare cut it before I photographed it for fear of it falling apart!   Unfortunately, when dealing with large hunks of baked meringue, some cracks and dings are inevitable.  I like to think that these are part of their charm.   That said, it is amazing what copious amounts of cream and fruit can hide.  Don’t ask me how I know this.  Just take my word for it.

So, there you have it – an imperfect dessert that is just perfect as it is, flaws and all.  With this much personality, looks really aren’t everything.

I’ve never really been into “cutesy” things.  I’m not one to redecorate my house in themes for every holiday.  And, I never wear sweaters with Rudolph, Cupid or the Easter Bunny plastered across my chest.  Whether it be home décor, fashion or food, I tend to prefer uncluttered, elegant and clean lines.  That’s just me.   Take Valentine’s Day, for instance.  Where is it written that every food served has to be bedazzled in pink or red?   I mean, it’s fine if a food actually is supposed to be pink or red.  Otherwise, I prefer my Valentine treats straight up – hold the gimmicks?   Besides, a great  recipe made with good quality ingredients speaks for itself – like these divine white and dark chocolate Pots de Crème.

Simply put, a pot de crème is the French equivalent of a custard or pudding.  The term literally means “pot of cream”.  Leave it to the French to make something so simple, sound so special!   Anyway, think of a pot de crème as a crème brûlée, without the brûlée.  

Pots de crème are a silky, luxurious and almost sinful indulgence.    While dark chocolate is more traditional, I decided to make some of my pots de crème with white chocolate as well. It takes an extra step to make them two ways, but it is so totally worth it.  Not that these are in any way difficult to make, because they’re not.  Actually, they come together pretty easily.

I found my inspiration for this sweet little Valentine’s Day dessert from Bea over at La Tartine Gourmande.  Bea’s blog is one of the first food blogs I ever read, and it is still one of my favorites.  She shares the most gorgeous food and makes it seem so effortless.

Bea’s pots de crème recipe calls for whole milk.  I swapped out the milk for half and half because, after all, these were meant for Valentine’s Day, so I felt a little extra decadence was in order.   Besides, if I had used milk, there wouldn’t have been enough for cereal the next morning -  and I didn’t feel like running out to the store again.   I also added an extra egg yolk, because I needed the white for another recipe.  I hate to waste a good yolk!

I wish I could tell you which version of these pots de crème I liked loved better, but I can’t.  They were both so outrageously good.  I also wish I could tell you which one Mr. SGCC preferred.  But, I can’t do that either, because my sweets-averse spouse wouldn’t touch them.    For twenty-five years I’ve been making him decadent treats for Valentine’s Day, and for twenty-five years he hasn’t eaten them.   Hey, I’m not complaining.  His loss is my gain. 

I’ve never met a person who didn’t like s’mores.  Even my non-sweet eating husband has been known to sneak a bite or two behind the barbecue grill when no one was looking.  I’m not surprised.  What’s not to love about oozey melted chocolate and ooey, gooey toasted marshmallows sandwiched between crunchy graham crackers?   Nothing, that’s what.  Never mind that they’re sticky and messy and a pain to eat.  That’s part of their charm.  They’re “s’mores”, and the name speaks for itself.

Although I found no concrete proof of this, s’mores are said to have been invented by a group of Girl Scouts on a camping trip, in the early part of the 20th century.  In fact, the first published recipe for s’mores appeared in the 1927 Girl Scout Handbook.  You’ve got to hand it to those Girl Scouts.  They’re an industrious bunch!  I wish I had been a Girl Scout when I was a kid.  My mother told me that that that they didn’t have Girl Scouts where we lived.  I think she made that up.  She said the same thing when I asked if I could take ballet lessons.  My mother was never much of a joiner.

Mini SGCC was a Girl Scout though.  She made it all the way through from Brownies to Cadettes.   Then she discovered boys, and that was the end of scouting – and s’mores. 

This S’more Pie is a slightly more sophisticated take on the original, though it has all of the same elements:  crunchy graham crackers, smooth, creamy chocolate and toasted marshmallows.  The graham crackers make up the crust and the chocolate comes in the form of a rich, velvety dark chocolate pudding.  And the toasted marshmallows…  Well, they’re still just toasted marshmallows.  I had other plans for them too, but I’ll get to that later.

The recipe for this chocolate pudding came from Gourmet Magazine.  It’s made with milk, cocoa powder, bittersweet chocolate, and thickened with cornstarch.  What I liked about this recipe was that it didn’t have a custard base, so there were no eggs to worry about tempering.  This made it all about the chocolate.  Sometimes, eggs can get in the way and muddle things up.  Feel free to use your own favorite chocolate pudding recipe, if you have one.

The graham cracker crust is just a mixture of crushed crackers, sugar and melted butter.  It’s one of the simplest things in the world to make.  Maybe that’s why I love it so much.  No rolling, and it always turns out right.

The chocolate pudding is really a cinch to make too.  You just heat all of the ingredients together in a saucepan, and whisk until they thicken.   Gotta love that!

Before the marshmallows go on, the pie needs to be chilled for a few hours.  If you skip this step, you might end up with chocolate pudding soup when you toast them.  Chocolate pudding soup would probably still taste good, but it would be a little  difficult to eat with a fork.

I had originally planned to be all fancy and pipe Marshmallow Fluff rosettes all over the top of this pie.  This was a great idea in theory, but not in application.    While you would think that Fluff has enough substance to stand up when piped, it does not.  At least, mine didn’t.    My rosettes kept flopping and falling, and I’d have to keep pulling them off and start over.    I went through an industrial sized vat of the stuff before I finally gave up.  Burnished little peaks would have definitely been prettier, but sometimes you have to cut your losses and move on.  Besides, the pie looks more “s’more-like” with mini marshmallows on top.  I think it has a certain “rustic charm”, don’t you?

I will also tell you that this pie is not easy to cut.  The marshmallows are way too sticky and gooey to get a neat slice.  Of course, if you aren’t planning to photograph it, it doesn’t matter.  If you are, like I was, then use a really sharp knife moistened with a light coating of flavorless cooking oil.  I didn’t figure this out until after I had already massacred half of the pie – which is why I don’t have a shot of any of the slices.  I make these mistakes so you don’t have to.  You can thank me later.

All glitches aside, this S’more Pie is really some kind of wonderful!  And, you don’t even have to fire up the grill to make it.   But, don’t take my word for it.  Make one for yourself and you’ll see what I mean.

On New Year’s Eve we celebrated Mini SGCC’s 18th birthday.  That’s right.  My baby is now legally an adult.

Of course, that means nothing to me. In my mind, she will always be my little curly-haired cherub.

One would think that Mr. SGCC and I can now sit back, relax and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.  But, I have a feeling that our headaches aren’t over yet!  Mini SGCC is a good kid, but she is fiercely independent and knows her own mind.  That is how we raised her to be.  Hopefully it won’t come back to bite us in the butt, now that we can’t really tell her what to do anymore.

I find it ironic that we parents spend all those years worrying and fretting over our kids, only to worry and fret even more when they grow up!  I now understand what my parents were talking about all those times they said that “A son is a son till he takes him a wife, but a daughter is a daughter for all of her life.”

In honor of the occasion, I decided to bake Mini SGCC’s favorite cake: a Black Forest Cake. I’d never baked a Black Forest cake before, and frankly, the prospect made me a little nervous. It’s a fancy schmancy German confection consisting of several layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and brandied cherries between each layer. Originally called Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, the entire cake is decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings. When made well, it is a masterpiece. When made by me – I wasn’t so sure!  

The base of a Black Forest cake is a rich chocolate cake. Most of the recipes I found used a Devil’s food cake, so that is what I decided to do.  I used the Devil’s food cake recipe from Baked Explorations, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Everything I’ve ever made from that book has turned out great, so I was confident that this cake would as well.

Although traditional Black Forest cakes are made with sour cherries, I went with sweet Bings.  The canned sour cherries I found in the market were just sad, little grayish blobs that tasted like crap.  Very unappetizing!  Besides, we like big, fat Bing cherries better.  Plus, they are easier to find around here.

Since I would be serving the cake to children, I soaked the cake in a syrup that I made by reducing the cherry liquid and Kirschwasser, a cherry liqueur, instead of just using the liqueur alone.  I think it tasted better that way.

A Black Forest cake usually has several layers.  However, in the interest of time (and my sanity), I opted to only make a two layer cake.  It was fine, though.  This cake was plenty rich just as it was.

I frosted the whole cake with freshly whipped cream and decorated it with some Maraschino cherries and shaved dark chocolate.  I think it turned out very pretty, if I do say so myself.

Mini SGCC’s boyfriend’s birthday is just a few days after hers, so the cake was kinda for him too.  Here are Mini SGCC and The Boy blowing out their candles, as Mr. SGCC looks on with a grumpy look on his face.  All together now:  AWWW!

I have to say, I don’t know what I was so worried about with this cake.  It was really quite easy to make, and it was amazing.   The cake layers were wonderfully dense and moist, and the cherry filling was absolutely to die for!  Everyone who tried it was wowed.

If you’re looking for a fancy cake for a special occasion, I highly recommend this Black Forest cake.  While it looks like it took all day to make, it actually can be pulled off in just a few hours.

Ever since Mini SGCC’s accident, it has been a crazy, hectic time around here!  Most of my time has been filled up with driving her back and forth to school, taking her to doctor’s appointments, physical therapy and everywhere else she needs to go.  In the midst of all that, Mr. SGCC had the audacity to develop pneumonia.  Can you imagine?  What nerve!  And, let’s not forget that we also had to get through the Holidays, which managed to pop up at the most inconvenient time.  Just between you and me, I feel like I’m living in a house of cards.

Cooking these days has consisted of throwing things together and dropping them on the table.  Trust me, there hasn’t been much I’ve wanted to share with you.   Those leisurely days of simmering, braising and roasting as I snapped photos along the way seem like a distant memory.  I know that eventually I’ll be able to get back into my normal routine, but it ain’t happening anytime soon.   And, boy is it frustrating!  

One interesting thing that I did manage to make are these healthy and delicious breakfast cookies.  They’re made with whole wheat flour, and are chock full of great breakfast-type ingredients like rolled oats, Cheerios, peanut butter and bananas.  To keep them a little healthier, I only used a minimal amount of butter, adding moisture with mashed bananas and applesauce.  Of course, the benefit of that was probably canceled out when I decided to add chocolate chips.  Oh well.  It’s the thought that counts… isn’t it?

Breakfast cookies are a great alternative to packaged granola bars.  They’re self-contained and portable, so you can grab one on the go.  They’re also full of wholesome, all natural ingredients, which you can customize according to your own tastes.   Plus, who doesn’t love the idea of having cookies for breakfast?

These breakfast cookies are very easy to make.  All you do is mix together your wet ingredients, mix together your dry ingredients, then put them all together and bake.  The cookies are dense and chewy, with a little crunch from the cereal.  I’m not saying that they’ll ever edge out a gooey glazed doughnut as my breakfast of choice, but they’re a satisfying alternative.  And honestly, at 6:00 in the morning, I could chew on a cardboard box and not really know the difference!

When Mini SGCC was a little girl, there was one Christmas Eve ritual that we never missed.  We would always bake one special kind of cookie for Santa Claus to enjoy as a snack when he stopped by our house during the night.   We had a special plate designated just for him and would leave the cookies on it, along with a glass of milk, under our tree before we went to bed.   We figured that with all of that racing around on his sleigh and heavy lifting all night long, he could probably use a little sugar rush by the time he got to our house.  After all, Santa is no spring chicken anymore!

On Christmas morning,  Mini SGCC would rush out to see if the cookies were gone, thus verifying that Santa had indeed been there.  I remember one year we forgot to take the cookies off of the plate.  Mini SGCC was a little upset.  She assumed that Santa didn’t “eat” them because he didn’t like them.  After that, we were never allowed to make that same cookie for Santa again.

I’m not sure where the tradition of baking Christmas cookies began.  Some say that their history can be traced back to medieval times in Europe.  Whenever and wherever the practice originated,  baking Christmas cookies has become a cherished holiday tradition for families in just about every corner of the world.  It’s a lucky thing for Santa too.  He must make out like a bandit!   

In the aftermath of Mini SGCC’s accident, there hasn’t been much opportunity for cookie baking.  Too many doctor appointments, physical therapy sessions and other running around have gotten in the way.  I have been able to make a few bathes of cookies, here and there, but not nearly what I usually do.  I’ve also had to pack up most of my makeshift photography studio for the time being.  Bella has been banished to my bedroom so that she doesn’t accidentally knock Mini SGCC down.  So, the cameras, lights and fragile props had to be moved to higher ground.   It’s definitely not an ideal situation for a food blogger!

Fortunately, I have some great Christmas cookie ideas from the SGCC archives to share.  I hope that you enjoy them and are inspired to go forth and bake!   I also hope that I’ll be back soon with some new recipes to share.