rainy saturdays

I would call it a lazy, rainy Saturday, but it’s not. Tomorrow is the second Sunday of Advent, my season of preparation for Christmas. While I “think” I’m done decorating inside, there’s still the outside to do. There’s gift shopping to do. There’s cookies to make. There’s planning for next year to plan. No time for a long winter’s nap.

The dogs, however, choose to differ on the napping situation. Usually, cuteness gives them a pass. Usually, since my lab puppy, Winston, has decided to become a retriever of all things. I decided to embrace this new habit and teach him to “Bring it.” One day this may come in handy. In the meantime, I deal with dog slobber and a happy puppy.

Tobey, on the other hand, prefers the “keep and swallow” strategy. I’m not a fan of this, particularly when it comes to socks, headbands, and small washcloths. I live in fear that one day those items will not come out either end, requiring emergency surgery.

So…cookies. While I’m at the point where I’m not eating holiday cookies, I still love making holiday cookies. It’s not a family thing though it is something I did with my kids. Baking is my thing in general in our marriage. I love trying new recipes and experimenting with flavors, even though baking is supposed to be science. I see the rules more as guidelines in which I get to play.

Yesterday, I made the cinnamon snickerdoodle recipe on the back of the package of Hershey’s cinnamon chips. It is missing 2 key ingredients, nutmeg and vanilla. I’m not sure how that was missed. Pictured above are the almond cookies I also made. This is a similar recipe from the Taste of Home site though it’s missing the almond slivers in my recipe.

On the other side of the stove are the chocolate-dipped apricot bar cookies, also from Taste of Home. I switched out the hazelnuts for the chopped pecans I had on hand. Today, I’ll cut up the cookies into triangles and dip them into bittersweet chocolate. I wanted to counteract the sweetness of the cookies with bitterness to even the flavors out.

Today, I’ll be making gingersnaps and some kind of keto almond cookie. I found a few on Pinterest which looked interesting. I also need to look at my collected Springerle recipes. I’d like to try making at least one batch for the first time. Bakers use flat molds to make the cookies and then dry them for 24 hours to ensure the patterns set in the cookies. The molds used to be made with wood or clay. Nowadays other materials are used. While my brief research says there is no clear origin for Springerle, humans have been imprinting pictures into baked goods since ancient times. Christianity adopted the practice with Eucharistic hosts, quite possibly in the European monasteries.