Cranberries, almonds, white chocolate...oh my!

I made a batch of cookies this past weekend and surprised myself with the results.  I started with the recipe for "Apricot Almond White Chocolate Chip Cookies" from Dede Wilson's A Baker's Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

The bad news?  I was fresh out of apricots.  The good news?  I had plenty of dried cranberries on hand.

And the result?  Delicious!  The cranberries were a nice change of pace and the tartness was easily balanced by the white chocolate.  The red cranberries were quite festive. 

If you're looking to kick your cookie recipes up a notch this holiday season, try throwing some cranberries in there.  Use them in place of raisins for oatmeal raisin cookies, or add them to a blondie recipe.  Be creative, and enjoy!

Martha Monday--Grandin Road Giveaway

Each day in December, Martha Stewart .com is giving away a prize from her Grandin Road collection.  Click here to see all the prizes and to enter. 

Today's giveaway is a 3' pre-lit window box tree, valued at $59.00 (pictured below). 

IMPORTANT:  note that the form they give you to enter the contest automatically signs you up for a subscription to Martha Stewart Living.  However, they do provide you with a form that does not lead to a subscription, and the link to that form is contained in the paragraph above the entry form.  Read carefully!

I am all about tomorrow's prize:  a cedar wreath with glittered birds (value $79.00). 

Of course, those $100 gift cards would be very nice, too. Wouldn't that be a wonderful holiday surprise? 

O Christmas Tree!

Background:  our family room has an 18 foot ceiling.  Last year, our 7 foot tree looked a bit strange in there. 

We got a new tree.  I'll let the pictures tell the story.

That's right.  We now have a full 12 foot pre-lit tree. Woohoo!

Christmas organization

For many, myself included, the holidays can be a stressful time.  There is so much I want to do and enjoy, and just a few short weeks in which to accomplish it all.  Sometimes it's hard to pack it all in before the actual holiday, you know?

Staying organized is key.  By setting priorities and sticking to a time frame and budget, it is possible to have a fun and relaxed holiday season.  Martha has several tips and tricks for staying organized during the holidays.  She even has a handy-dandy holiday checklist here. 

In addition to Martha's tips for staying organized and sane for the holidays, let me add my own:

Priorities--This is the biggest and best tip I can give anyone planning for the best holiday ever:  only do the holiday activities that bring you joy and happiness, and let the rest go.  Do you feel like you have to send out Christmas cards, but truly hate to do it?  Then don't do it!  Does your fantasy Christmas involve a house bedecked with lights, but you don't have the time or energy to get it done?  You can always ask for help, or just decide that this is one task that can wait for next year.  There can be a big difference between what you think Christmas should be (and based on magazines, store displays, etc. there's a lot we absolutely must have) and what you actually want.  Go with what makes you happy and disregard the rest of the hoopla. 

Gift giving--I make a spreadsheet in Excel of who, what, where and how much.  This list is king and really helps me stick to my budget.  When a person's name is ready to be checked off, I simply highlight their name so I know I'm done with them.

Cards--My holiday mailing list is another Excel spreadsheet.  From there, I can print off labels for cards and it's easy to keep everyone's address up-to-date.

Timing--Don't break your back trying to get every Christmas decoration up.  Spread the task out over a few days, and give yourself time to enjoy the process.

Spread the cheer--get family involved whenever possible.  Let the hubs put up the tree, let the kids help with the cookies, and if you are hosting, let everyone bring a dish to share. 

Cheer yourself--do something for yourself this holiday season to make it especially enjoyable.  I indulge in those Peppermint White Chocolate Mochas from Starbucks, I use peppermint body wash and lotion, and I listen to Christmas music whenever possible.  Those things do wonders to lift my spirits if I happen to get the holiday blahs. 

Enjoy the season!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I love this time of year, and the decorations play a large part in that.  And as you can imagine, I have a ton of Christmas decorations.  More decorations than I have room to place them, actually.  However, I'm going to do my best and get as many decorations out of boxes and on display as possible. 

Since lifting heavy boxes is a big no-no for me right now, the Big Guy has been bringing a few up from the basement at a time so I can go through them in the dining room.  For the next week or so, my dining room is Christmas Central.

The kitchen is perhaps the easiest room to do:  the Santa oven mitt is hanging on the fridge, and my baking-themed Christmas tree is on top of the fridge. 

This tree went up so quickly because it is quite small, and because I store it with all the decorations on.  How easy is that?

The tree in the living room is not so easy to get up.  It took us a while to get the lights just right on this one.

Not that the Little Guy needs any additional excitement about Christmas ("Lights, Mom! LIGHTS!"), I filled the book basket in the living room with Christmas-themed children's books.  And headbands featuring reindeer and moose antlers for adding reading enjoyment. 

Yes, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the TMI household.  Now, time to set up the other two Christmas trees...