Soul Sisters: Holiday To-Do

How can it be only days until Christmas! I'm finally able to go back and "blog" about some of our holiday haps. My holiday cards are signed, sealed and on their way to the post office (finally). Took me a bit longer to get on my game this year. I also noted, with a little smile that this year the pile of cards stamped to Canada and the pile of cards stamped to the US were almost equal. Shocking I know, when you understand that I ordered 100 cards and have just three left. Thinking back to our first Christmas officially away from home in our shoebox Boston apartment (deep sigh), we didn't even have one card that stayed "local". How times have changed. The tradition of holidays cards may one day become a thing of the past with high tech gadgets, but I hope we can hold on to it for a while... we don't have a printer at home (try it, you will be surprised at what you don't really need to print) and save our paper usage for our Christmas letter. I feel a tad less guilty, save a tree!

Anywhoo...

On to some holiday fun. So, it has been blowing snow ever since Thanksgiving and the littles and I have been baking. Some projects have led to some yummy success and others have been a total flop. The cookie recipes were from the Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

So first a FLOP. We attempted these super adorbs Roly-Poly Santas.

Totally cute right?

Just a basic sugar dough recipe.

The little little helping out. She has got some fast hands!

And look who is finally growing hair!

It hasn't been a good day unless you get flour on your jeans!

You make red and white dough.

Working together.

It was almost like playdough. We made tons in all different sizes.

The big little was a pro, even if he tasted a lot of them! A baker always has to test his product!

They looked great on the baking pan.

After baking, every single one of them lost an appendage.

The Santa pile of yummy, but oddly strange, result.

I realized after that we had made them way to big. They had no real chance of working because of that. Still good, but I could not wrap them in a cellophane bag with a ribbon and give away our Roly-Poly Santa cookie Lollipops as I had planned. Might be brave (and re-motivated) next year and try again.

Poor Santa! Ho Ho Ho!

Next, we had to re-deem ourselves and our baking aptitudes. We made the super yummy whipped shortbread cookies that I make every year. Since it was a spur of the moment idea and because we were trapped inside since it was a flurry of snow and rain outside (festive though!), we used caramel Hershey kisses instead of the more traditional candied florescent green & red cherries. Auntie Amy posted the recipe here.

Is there any better quintessential childhood baking memory that doesn't involve licking the beaters?

Yum oh yum oh yum.

Note, we are baking in Halloween PJs! Just a couple of months behind in our holiday sleepwear!

Delish and perfect!

We then had such a sugar rush from our "Kissed & Whipped" shortbread, that we decided to prep for our cookie decorating playdate with our good pals. A basic sugar cookie recipe and some Wilton Cookie cutters (the best kind), made for some super cute cookies.