Christmas Cookies (includes recipe)

Made mom's recipes for light and dark Christmas cookies. I'm biased but I think they are the best. The recipes are below.

Look, a bone spur like me!

Light
1/3 C shortening (I use unsalted butter)
1/3 C sugar
1 egg
2/3 C honey
2 3/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon extract

Dark
1/3 C shortening (I use unsalted butter)
1/3 C dark brown sugar
1 egg
2/3 C molasses
2 3/4 C flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger

Combine shortening and sugar. Add egg and other liquid.
Mix dry ingredients together. Add in dry ingredients in thirds.
Refrigerate dough for at least an hour. I've kept in in refrig for 24+ hours.

Roll out only the amount you can use. Keep rest in refrigerator.

Bake 10 mins at 350°.

Wrapping Paper Gift Bags

Saw a video on YouTube on wrapping (link here). It included ideas for wrapping odd-shaped items. One of the ideas was to make gift bags out of wrapping paper. I found the instructions on WikiHow (link here).

I made a couple of modifications. Instead of folding down the "top" just once, I did it twice so that it created a thicker band for the handle holes.


Secondly I made the handles by just tying the raffia into a loop. This actually closes the bag pretty well.

Did most of these while I was on hold with Hennepin Department of Health and Human Services. It was actually very fun. These all came out to be about the same size but the nice thing is you can make them any size you want.

Holiday festivities

Rose, Michael, Megan and Roxie came over for Christmas day. We ate tasty ham that Michael prepared along with yams, brussel sprouts and several apple desserts.

On Saturday, I saw the movie Into The Woods with Christine, Rose, Megan and Michael.

On Sunday Christine and I met Kay at the Minneapolis Art Institute to see the Italian Style exhibit. Beautiful clothes and designs from post World War II to present day.

Christine, Kay and me at MIA

Sunday night I met Jennifer and Michael at Trygg's to hear their favorite singer, Dan, perform with Reuben.

Jennifer

On Tuesday Jennifer and Michael Coté hosted a pre-New Year's Eve dinner party. Lots of good food and fun.

Rose, JT and Loretta

crazy me with Michael and Jennifer

Jennifer and Dave

crazy selfie with me and Megan

Christmas decorating

My mix of nativity, ornaments and technology.

Thanksgiving (Christmas) cactus

Just in time for Thanksgiving, the biggest Christmas cactus ever is in full bloom. So pretty.

Christmas with Mom

Mom came for Christmas this year. I was so happy she decided to spend Christmas in Minneapolis. She has been here before for the holidays so she knows of Martha's Polish Christmas Eve gathering.

We have had a very cold December with just enough snow. Mom arrived on Saturday and that evening we went to 'Sisters of Swing' at the Minnesota History Theater. We met Amy, Loretta, Kathy, JT and Linda there. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the show. It is about the Andrews Sisters who were born on Minnesota.

Sunday we met Amy, Loretta and Bunny at Old Chicago in Plymouth to watch the Vikings game. Monday I worked from home and we cooked. We made meatless chili and apple cake. Monday was a particularly cold day so mom didn't go out.

Tuesday morning we baked Christmas cookies. We made the light and dark dough recipes that I had gotten from her. These make a lot of cookies. We set up an assembly line to get them all done. Tuesday evening was Christmas Eve at Martha's. I won't go into the details. We had a wonderful time with great food, great friends and great laughs.

live tree from Lea and Tim

Wednesday, Christmas day, we made an apple pie with frozen apples from my apple tree. And we made eye of round, dinner rolls, celery and carrots and heated up the meatless chili... for dinner with Rose and Roxie. We all watched sappy Hallmark Channel movies. It was a great Christmas. I was exhausted.

Thursday I worked from home again. I did get mom to take a little walk to my barbershop. The sidewalks were well shoveled and it wasn't too cold. I think she was glad to get out for a bit. In the evening we went to the movies. We saw 'The Secret Life of Walter Middy'. I enjoyed it tremendously. We had dinner at the movie house.

Friday, mom returned to Virginia.

Merry Christmas

Friends in Virginia and DC

On Tuesday Mom and I met up with my friends Judy and Lance.  Judy and I worked together at my very first job out of college in 1981.  Lance and I worked together at Arena Stage in Washington, DC back in the 1980's.

Lance gave us a detailed tour of the new Arena complex.  It is truly something to behold and pictures I have cannot convey the size and grandeur.

I got kind of nostalgic walking through the few parts that are still there from what I remember as the original structures.

Lance's partner, Tony, met us a the theatre and we went up to Capitol Hill for dinner at one of their favorite places, Las Placitas.

We all got caught up.  It had been two years since we had met as a group.  This gathering of people from my past has been a Christmas-time tradition.

From the restaurant to Lance's condo to show Judy his truly amazing Christmas decorations.  Lance decorates his place in an unbelievable amount of Christmas.

There are more Dicken's villages than ever, garlands of lights and ornaments, Santas, Christmas Mickey Mouses, an enormous creche, and this incredibly beautiful tree.

We agreed we would only go up to Lance's highrise condo if there was easy parking.  There was this spot that was about six inches longer than the rental.

Not to brag (but I am)...I made it in on the first try.

Christmas in Virginia

I flew to Virginia on Christmas day to spend some time with family and friends.

After landing at Dulles International Airport, I got the rental car and drove to Herndon to pickup my sister Carol.  Herndon is very close to the airport.

Then we drove to Mom's in Burke to pick her up along with the potatoes for the traditional potato soup.  We went to my niece Gracie Kay's apartment.  My sister, Lea, and her husband Tim and his brother Todd were already at Gracie Kay's.

Also at Gracie Kay's was the newest member of the clan, Austin.  He's Gracie's nephew and only 3 months old and cute as can be.

He is successfully unwrapping one of his presents here.

The food was fantastic and the company was even better.  It was a great Christmas celebration.