Merry Christmas!

By now you should have been able to dig yourself out from under all the wrapping paper scraps! I hope Santa was good to you! I wanted to wish you all Merry Christmas! More posts coming soon!
Xoxo,
M

Friday's Scoop 12/21/12

1. It is Friday, December 21, and today the world is supposed to end, so far we are okay, right? I mean at least for now...we will find out in about two hours and 39 minutes! Did you do anything to prepare for the end of the world? I did zip, zero, nada!


2. Yesterday was my birthday and my parents surprised me by giving me a new camera as my birthday present! That is right it was a BIRTHDAY present, not a birthday/Christmas present, purely birthday! Win! I will be sharing pictures soon! Maybe near the bottom of this post?! Oh, there is one at the top!

3. Christmas is right around the corner! I think I am done with shopping, but I am sure that once I begin to wrap I will saying "Oh, fudge" like Ralphie in A Christmas Story (BEST. CHRISTMAS. MOVIE. EVER. except for maybe Elf!). I feel like I must have forgotten someone's present. Hmm...who could I have forgotten?

4. Today at the grocery store I picked up a copy of America's Test Kitchen Christmas Cookies, I can't wait to get in the kitchen tomorrow! So many recipes I want to try! Should I begin with Fudge Drops, or Hazelnut Lemon Curd cookies, or maybe Toasted Coconut Butter cookies! Any recommendations or which one would you like to see on the blog?

5. Here are some of my favorite pins from the week, I have been pinning like crazy, as I fall asleep, as I wake up, when I am waiting somewhere and even as I wind down for a nap! It's getting a little intrusive! This week I will share some recipe pins and some DIYs to mix it up, most having to do with the holidays!

• Bakery Style Frosted Brownies These may not scream Christmas, but I am sure if you dress them up with some Christmas sprinkles they will begin to! 
• DIY Stocking Tutorial I love the fabric that they used! First I will need to learn to sew, so I guess I will stick with my generic store bought one. Do you make your own stockings or do you have a generic one like me? 
• Holiday Cake Crumb Cookies I find these intriguing, how does one combine cake, crumb and cookie? I will have to find out by making them! 
• Gingerbread Waffles Sounds like the perfect way to start your day on Christmas! I will be opening my presents way before breakfast, I can't help myself. On Christmas I act like a total kiddo with the Christmas pajamas, waking up bright and early, even rushing downstairs and demanding that I open the first gift! Okay, so maybe I don't quite demand it with my angry voice, but I do like to start opening my presents ASAP. 
• Sugar Doodle Vanilla Cookies Part sugar cookie? Part snickerdoodle? Add vanilla! Yes please! 
• DIY Tabletop Christmas Tree If Christmas were'nt only four days away, I would put on my MollyCakesMakes game face on and get to DIYing, but that probably won't happen because I have so much baking and wrapping to catch up on! AHHH, if you here screaming from under a large mountain of wrapping paper it's probably me with a severe paper cut from curling ribbons! 

6. Here is my favorite Instagram photo that I took this week!

Anyone else feel the same way? Well I am off to make cupcakes...

7. And finally, here are some of my pictures with my new camera!

Mozi got a boo boo on her nosie. :( 

Well, I hope to post before the Holiday, but as I mentioned before I have loads of Christmas stuff to get working on! Merry Christmas if I don't post before then, but I will try my very best to!

Enjoy!
M

Dear Santa

On my side of the blog the Christmas spirit has really begun to pick up! I finally got over not listening to Christmas music and am currently rocking out to Celine Dion as I write this! While I spread Christmas magic around my house, I have not really sprinkled any on the blog (see what I did there)! So, I thought I would share my Christmas list and a few shots of my Christmas decorations with you! Hopefully I can do a more comprehensive holiday decorating post, if I get some of the things on my list because they will definitely help improve from these pictures!

Mantel decorations by yours truly!
Tree is not finished, we still need to add tons of TINSEL!
Tinsel makes me a tad excited!

• Canon 60D This camera is amazing and I was sold when I found out that its the camera that Marion uses on her blog, Marionberry Style. Have you seen the detail she is able to capture in her pictures? 
• Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens Michelle at BrownEyedBaker says this is a great lens for food shots! 
•  Kelly Moore Camera bag, these are functional and fashionable! A great accessory for my camera! 
• 18K Gold Whisk Necklace, it will keep my love of baking always near and dear to my heart! 
• Pure Vanilla Cookbook, if you have read my blog for sometime, you probably realize I tend to always double the vanilla in a recipe. Vanilla is one of my favorite baking ingredients, so why wouldn't I love an entire cookbook dedicated to just vanilla?
• Food scale, do you have an recommendations?
• World Peace 

Peppermint Bark is currently a work in progress, I made the first batch way too thick!
Once I get it right I will post! 

What's on your Christmas list? Anything I should add to mine? 

Enjoy! Merry Christmas! Oh and Happy Birthday to Me! 

M

My sister gave me this t-shirt for Christmas last year! I really really LOVE Christmas! 

Ginger Molasses Cookies

The other day I went to this mini market for breakfast, I got a ham, egg and cheese, and a giant gingersnap! I know it was breakfast, but its the holiday season so I was going to get me a gingersnap! This was a true gingersnap, it snapped and crunched with every bite! I love the flavor of gingersnaps, but when they are really snappy, I feel as though I need to grab the nearest glass of water and chug it down. I am a fan of the chewier and moister variety of ginger cookies, so when I saw Table for Two's FaceBook Cookie Swap posting, I got really excited and squealed (okay maybe not squealed, but you get what I mean)! As Julie did, I slightly under baked my cookies so they were extra chewy, just how I like them.

(Phone Picture)

Now as usual, I wish I had more pictures to share, but they were gobbled up before I could take more. Take that however you like, but I think you should take as a testament to how amazingly tangy, zippy and delicious these cookies are! And you should make them for Christmas immediately seeing as we only have six more days until Christmas! Six more days until Christmas, hmmm that means only one day until my birthday, YIPPEE! Sorry for my self-absorbed tangent, but with my birthday so close to Christmas, I totally get jipped and need to treat myself otherwise! :)

Enjoy!
M

Ginger Molasses Cookies 
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F, line baking sheets with parchment.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Set this mixture aside.
3. Cream together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and molasses until well combined.
4. Slowly add in the flour mixture to the creamed butter, mixing until just combined.
5. Scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets using a large cookie scoop. Press the dough down using saran wrap and the palm of your hand.
6. Bake for 12 minutes (bake longer for a crisper cookie), let cool on pan for a couple minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Adapted from Table for Two

A Day of Silence in Honor of the Innocent Lives Lost

Copied from Michelle at Brown Eyed Baker