A very productive day
Every year at Christmas, my grandmother (of almost direct German decent) makes "Lebkuchen," a traditional Christmas cookie. When she's visiting us or we're visiting her, she always has us help with the baking. It's a Christmas tradition that I cherish, and I was disappointed that I was not going to see her this Christmas.
So I struck upon a brilliant idea. Ben has two younger sisters, and I thought it would be really fun to have them come over one Saturday, and we would bake the cookies and hang out, they could spend the night, and I would take them to their church in the morning. They seemed excited about it, so I went out and bought the ingredients, and got the recipe from my grandmother.
Liz (the older of the two girls) couldn't make it because she's busier than anyone her age really should be, but Kaylin came over and we baked and baked and baked. The dough we made turned into four cookie sheets of Lebkuchen (it really should have been more, but some were a little thick) and over 50 cookies. It was a long process, but we had one heck of a good time. My good friend Christine came over for a bit, 'cause she had some "Christmas baking" that she wanted to get done, and she made us (me, really) some Gluehwein, which I haven't had since the Weinachtsmarkt in Germany and ... *melts* It was so very very good.
We made dinner (spaghetti, because it's easy) and watched reruns of Top Chef, which I enjoy, but not as much as Project Runway. After dinner, Christine went home and Kaylin and I threw together a double batch of banana bread, which was great fun (and a lot faster than the Lebkuchen). We let the bread bake and sat down to watch Forrest Gump, which Kaylin had never seen. Halfway through we made another double batch of banana bread (yay, Christmas baking!) and watched the end of it. Good times. I love that movie.
All in all, with the cleaning I did this morning and the fact that our tree is now decorated, it was a great and productive day. *does the dance of productivity* Now if I could only get those Christmas cards sent...
So I struck upon a brilliant idea. Ben has two younger sisters, and I thought it would be really fun to have them come over one Saturday, and we would bake the cookies and hang out, they could spend the night, and I would take them to their church in the morning. They seemed excited about it, so I went out and bought the ingredients, and got the recipe from my grandmother.
Liz (the older of the two girls) couldn't make it because she's busier than anyone her age really should be, but Kaylin came over and we baked and baked and baked. The dough we made turned into four cookie sheets of Lebkuchen (it really should have been more, but some were a little thick) and over 50 cookies. It was a long process, but we had one heck of a good time. My good friend Christine came over for a bit, 'cause she had some "Christmas baking" that she wanted to get done, and she made us (me, really) some Gluehwein, which I haven't had since the Weinachtsmarkt in Germany and ... *melts* It was so very very good.
We made dinner (spaghetti, because it's easy) and watched reruns of Top Chef, which I enjoy, but not as much as Project Runway. After dinner, Christine went home and Kaylin and I threw together a double batch of banana bread, which was great fun (and a lot faster than the Lebkuchen). We let the bread bake and sat down to watch Forrest Gump, which Kaylin had never seen. Halfway through we made another double batch of banana bread (yay, Christmas baking!) and watched the end of it. Good times. I love that movie.
All in all, with the cleaning I did this morning and the fact that our tree is now decorated, it was a great and productive day. *does the dance of productivity* Now if I could only get those Christmas cards sent...