Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sunday Salon - Getting Ready for the Big Day


So with Christmas coming up, this week's going to be pretty busy! I have most of my shopping done but I still have to wrap and send out those last few cards. We send out our cards the day after Thanksgiving but I always get a few back and send them out the week before Christmas; I hope they get to their recipients on time!

My big plan for today? Bake cookies, and then bake more cookies. Friday I made sugar cookies shaped like Hello Kitty; yesterday was chocolate chip cookies and today is peanut blossoms. Tomorrow I'll make cranberry pinwheels and Tuesday I'll make gingersnaps and coconut macaroons. Finally, on Wednesday I'll make something else- what, I don't know yet. Most of the cookies are traditions but I always like to try something new as well. Then on Christmas day I have to make an upside down cake for dessert, garnished with pomegranate seeds. Yum!

We also have to take my cat to the vet today- a challenge considering the amount of snow outside! We're fairly buried here in the Boston area today! Those flamingos are in my backyard and that picture is from about 10 a.m. this morning!

What are your holiday traditions?

You can read more Sunday Salon posts here.

15 comments:

Ana S. said...

I hope your cat's okay and that the vet visit was just a general checkup! And have fun baking :D I am *gulp* still not done with my shopping...

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I love people who give baked things for gifts! And your selection sounds great! The challenge for me would be not dipping into it too much!

Anonymous said...

oooh my! I bet your house smells like absolute heaven! Can I come over? :-D

As to my own traditions, since the kids go to their dads, our Christmas is usually early (we had ours Friday) so we can do it together. We try to bake, and like making gingerbread boys and girls. I usually get board with the standard kind after a dozen or so, and start decorating them... er, strangely. Ones who lose limbs or their head in transferring from cutting board to sheet become war vetrans, or victims of Mdme Guillotine :-D And some go in drag, others swimsuits. One year we made all the South Park characters. We marched them around, did voices for them and everything, then ate Kenny... "OMG! They ate Kenny!"

LOL.. Okay, so I'm weird.

bermudaonion said...

I love pomegranates, so I'd love to see what your cake looks like. Enjoy your holiday baking!

Tasha said...

I bet your home smells amazing with all that wonderful baking going on!

Literary Feline said...

Sounds like you have a busy week planned, Marie! It'll probably be a slow week for me--at least that's what I'm hoping in terms of how things go at the office. I'm taking a week off from work next week, which I'm looking forward to.

I hope your cat is doing okay and has a good visit at the vet's.

fibrowitch said...

Thanks to an unplanned squished in medical procedure on Wednesday I will spend the week on a liquid diet. I shall spend the 23 in Cambridge Hospital, and the 24-26 under a blanket.

Frances said...

Marie, you always strike me as so incredibly well organized! And I wish I was at your house eating cookies right now. But I would never make it from snow covered DC to snow covered Boston in time. So sad for me! Happy reading in 9-12 minute increments between cookie batches.

Anonymous said...

I'm baking cookies with my mom tomorrow; it's rather late in the year for us, but I couldn't help it this year with teaching running until Friday. I like to tell myself that the cookies will be nice and fresh come Christmas Day. ;) We're making traditional gingersnaps, rolled in granualated sugar, and a family favorite called Ribbon Cookies. They're three layers of poppy seeds, candied cherries, and chocolate. YUM! I'll be thinking of you as I made a few made dashes to the store, and I'm WAY behind on my card writing. It looks like you're kitty wore her/himself out with all the preparations, too!

Petunia said...

Mmmm, peanut butter blossoms are one of my favorite cookies ever. We also make snowball cookies and strawberry bread.

Our big family tradition is to order tons of junk food from Swiss Colony, Sees Candies, and Hickory Farms. The entire month of Dec. we pig out on beef logs, smoked cheese, choclates, petits fours and chocolate torte. You can see most of it here: http://educatingpetunia.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-tradition.html

Michelle said...

Brrrrrr, snow is no place for a flamingo!

Sounds like you had a great pre-holiday weekend planned (minus the whole trudging in the snow to the vet thing). Hopefully the cookies turned out well.

Gilion at Rose City Reader said...

Man! That's a lot of cookies!

We have so many Christmas traditions around my house, I can't even keep track. The big one is putting up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. And on Christmas morning, we must ALWAYS open stockings, then read the Christmas story from Luke, then open under the tree gifts. It MUST be in that order with no deviation.

Esme said...

Sounds like you are going to have fun-I did my baking on Saturday-shortbread with cranberry/pecan, angel bars, italian almond meringue cookies, pepper spice cookies and ice box cream cheese cookies.

Is everything fine with your cat?

I love the photo of him sleeping under the tree.

Marie Cloutier said...

Esme, it sounds like you've been as busy baking as I have! My cat's okay- he's got liver problems and needed some tests. He'll be on medicine for it more or less permanently but he's getting better. He's almost 14, so what can you do? Thanks for asking. :-)

Zibilee said...

Sounds like you were baking like crazy! I bet you had a lot of great snacks for the holiday, and I hope you had a nice one! Enjoy your relaxing time and have a great New Year!