Bonus Tuesday: Two Posts in One!

12 (Blog) Days of Christmas:  On the Second Day

On the Second (blog) Day of Christmas . . . I give you my shopping!

This is what one corner of my sewing room looks like right now.  Boxes.  Bags.  Wrapping supplies.

I like to shop . . . given the right circumstances.  I can shop for days, say, on the Miracle Mile in Chicago.  Or at charming little shops in charming little towns on the lake.  Or, oh, at yarn shops!  But. I really am not a fan of the Christmas shopping.  I don't like the mall -- especially when it's crowded with harried shoppers (in droves) and those little kiosks selling everything from jigsaw puzzles to home spas to hideous, giant animal slippers.  I do most of my shopping on the Internet, with only occasional forays out into the mall.

I officially finished my shopping yesterday.  (At the mall. . .)

Phew!

(Also. . . look what I found . . . and couldn't resist . . . when I was at the Yankee Candle Store in the mall.  What knitter could pass this by?)

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Ten on Tuesday:  Visions of Sugar Plums

This week, Carole has us thinking about our Ten Favorite Christmas Cookies!

It's a bit on the early side for me to start my Christmas cookie baking, but I have certainly started thinking about it.  Here are my favorites:

1. Pepparkakor - a family favorite and annual tradition
2. Swedish Spritz - buttery goodness with just a light sprinkle of colored sugar (besides. . . who doesn't need that annual fight with the cookie press?)
3. Shortbread - one of Tom's specialties and oh-so-fabulous
4. Double Chocolate Kiss Cookies - another of Tom's fabulous contributions; this one is chocolate shortbread wrapped around a Hershey kiss, with a sprinkle of powdered sugar on the baked -- but still-warm! -- cookie; perfection, I tell ya!
5. Peanut Blossoms - those charming little morsels with the just-softened Hershey kiss stuck on top
6. Magic Bars - some people call them "7-layer bars", but in our family they are Magic Bars (and for some inexplicable reason, my Mom's taste a whole lot better than mine, despite our using the same, exact recipe!)
7. Mincemeat Bars - I'm sort of alone in my love of the mincemeat in my family (all the more for me!)
8. Sugar Cookies - I love the charm of the cut-and-decorated sugar cookie, but, alas, I just make mine in flattened balls to save time
9. Peppermint Brownies -- my regular brownie recipe . . . with a layer of York Peppermint Patties layered in the center; like Girl Scout Thin Mints . . . only more decadent
10. Chocolate Fudge -- not too sweet - and with plenty of nuts, please

How about YOU?  What are your favorite Christmas cookies?

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Comments

[Carole]

Ah yes, the annual fight with the cookie press. This cracks me up because it's so flippin' true. Will you share your pepparkakor recipe?

[Mary]

thankfully, my sister-in-law takes on the cookie press battle! (I do have one, but I can't remember the last time I used it!) and I'm thinking your mom's magic bars are better because she made them and you didn't have to. I'm finding other people's baking is often better than mine for that very reason! happy treat season!

[Marilyn]

I love the knitted bag you gifted to yourself. That's what you are doing, right? :)
I'm babysitting grandkids today...maybe we should make cookies!

[margene]

Now I have a reason to visit the Yankee Candle store...if, big if, I make it to the mall. One try with the cookie press 35 years ago and I'm not going near that thing ever again. It won. Homemade shortbread cookies are my very favorite. Maybe I'll try the almond flower recipe I found. Enjoy your Holiday now that the shopping is done!

[Sharon]

If there was only one Christmas cookie in the world it would have to be Magic Bars!

[Donna]

I'm getting hungry! So many good recipes to make. I LOVE that bag. I think I might have to go to Yankee Candle. I think I even have a coupon.

[Cheryl S.]

I try not to go anywhere near malls in December, if at all possible.

Chocolate Crinkles were my favorite Christmas cookie as a kid, but they don't seem to bake up as well as I remember them. Maybe it's the altitude.

[Vicki]

Adorable bag!! And also YUM!

[Patty]

May do one early morning swing by the mall next weekend but I hope that's it. (Little motivation this year!) And #4 cookie...looks fantabulous!

[Nichole]

Great list... peppermint brownies, yum!