It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

I finished my last batch of Christmas cookies tonight so I can check that off my list. My favorite are the above Russian Tea Cakes. They just melt in your mouth. Tonight, I made my favorite sugar cookie recipe for my Spritz Christmas cookies.

And for my chocolate fix, I can't go without my chocolate snowflake cookies.

I'll put them out for our first Christmas gathering which is this Friday night when Bruce's office comes over for dinner. I started setting the table, which takes a couple of days.

There's always something I forget so if I start early enough, I'll remember everything. This year I made these cute name place settings.

Simple but effective.

You can also see that each place setting has a little basket of almond roca. Bruce has made 3 batches so far to give out to his office-mates. Plus, it makes for a decorative table setting,

anything to make the occasion more festive, right?

It took a week to get the tree all decorated that I started the weekend after Thanksgiving. You mustn't rush these things, you know.

All of these tasks are to just get the house ready of our Christmas party. And I haven't even talked about the food yet, the best part! That comes next...

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Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have very many gluten-free cookies on my blog because quite frankly, I usually don't like gluten-free. But occasionally, I do find a good recipe and this is one that is from the back of the Trader Joe's oatmeal and it's a good one. My friend brought some over to our house last weekend when Nick and family were here for our birthday celebrations and we all loved them. My friend lives a few blocks away and we walk the neighborhood together on weekends. We can easily go 5 miles in no time, talking non-stop. She loves exploring our neighborhood as much as I do and we discover so many favorite little spots. We even found a property with a horse (or more like a pony, I should say.) The views are always quite lovely, too. Bruce and I had our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary on July 18th and I made a point of walking past the house where we had our wedding reception. I told my friend, "Thirty-nine years ago today, t...

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Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of meatloaf . This must be meatloaf season. It was surprisingly similar to the Pioneer Woman's version who was also recently on. I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book, Food Matters . His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese! I must be doing something wrong. The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life. If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health. He tells his story in Food Matters and provides ...

Two-Bean Soup with Kale

This hearty vegetarian soup warms up chilly nights. Use any type of canned beans you happen to have on hand and add chicken or Italian sausage for a heftier dish, if you prefer. Makes 4-6 servings 3 Tbsp. olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped carrots 1/2 cup chopped celery 1/2 tsp. salt, divided 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 cups vegetable broth, divided 7 cups stemmed, chopped kale (about 1 bunch) 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed, drained and divided 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary 1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, carrot, and celery, and saute 6 minutes or until tender. Stir in 1/4 tsp. salt and garlic; cook 1 minute. 2. Stir in 3 cups vegetable broth and kale. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simme...

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