Christmas 2010

Happy Sisters on Christmas morning!

White Christmas in Alabama - a first? Me: SoVeryTired. MCM: InKidHeaven. This is just before we explored all hills and empty lots in the back of the neighborhood. COLD!! We froze our fannies off!

Showing us her sock gloves. That's right, we didn't own gloves until last week. Oops!

Thawing out after our outdoor adventure.

Sweet family on Christmas Eve. Girls in their Christmas pj's.

Now that it's taken me and hour to upload the pictures I wanted, and they're STILL not in the order I wanted, I have run out of patience for Blogger. Does anyone else think loading pictures on here is a complete pain? Christmas was great. I'm glad it's over. The end.

One tidbit: I baked a lot of cookies this year. Partly because I LOVE sweets. Partly because MCM is a wonderful kitchen helper. She loves to force me to wear an apron every time I cook, and she puts on her apron and one on Lucy, and we go to town. Also, the reward of licking spoons or beaters covered in sugar, butter, and chocolate is apparently quite motivating. This year our FAVORITE cookies were these chocolate cream-filled cookies from Paula Deen's Christmas cookbook - they are in a word: incredible. Think homemade Oreos that are big, soft, chewy, and delicious. At our house they've been dubbed "Santa Cookies" as they were the ones we left out for Santa on Christmas Eve. They will be a tradition. Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Two 18.5-ounce packages of devil's food cake mix

4 Eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cup vegetable oil

One 8-ounce package cream cheese, sofened

3 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, and oil. Beat with an electric mixer and low speed until completely combined. The batter will be very stiff. Pinch off pieces of batter and roll into 1-inch balls. (This is the part that kids like! Eat a little, roll a little y'know!) Place 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets and flatten slightly with fingertips. Bake 8-10 minutes, until a slight indentation remains when lightly touched. Remove immediately from the cookie sheets with a spatula and cool on wire racks.

3. In a small glass mixing bowl, combine the cream chees and butter until completely blended. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla and mix at low speed until the icing is smooth. Spread icing on half the cookies and top with the remaining cookies. Store in the refrigerator in large resealable plastic bags.

**This makes about 4 dozen, so half it if you're not trying to make enough to give away!