Unlike previous years, when I was chomping at the bit waiting for the Christmas season to begin, I am not really feeling Christmas this year. It just seems like a lot of work and a lot of money, and I would probably rather go take a nap. I am already feeling ready for Christmas to be over, which is not my typical attitude.
I don’t know what’s different this year, except perhaps that I had such an incredibly busy October and November. I may be too worn out to enjoy Christmas this year.
But it’s early yet, and I’m hoping something happy and festive will kick in. In the meantime, I have started baking. Last year, I made 600+ Christmas cookies, and I am on track to make that many again this year. I’m planning to make cookies for everyone in both of my dance classes (30 people), for my work holiday party, and for my family’s Christmas Eve gathering, as well as my own general enjoyment.
One thing that’s different about this year’s baking plan is that I’m only using fair trade chocolate to make my cookies. When I learned recently that much of the chocolate I’ve used over the years was brought to me in part by enslaved children, I decided that I needed to make a change and vote with my money. Fair trade chocolate is definitely more expensive, but thanks to Trader Joe’s, I can get 3.5 ounces of milk chocolate or dark chocolate for $1.99. I’ve bought a little bit of chocolate every week, which has helped spread out the cost.
I’ve been trying to deterimine which cookies I’m going to make this year. So far, I’ve decided on:
Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies
White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Chocolate Toffee Rounds
Oreo Cheesecake Cookies (the plan is to do homemade oreos to make these!)
I’ll also probably make this sticky gingerbread just for my family and me. However, I am still looking for a few more awesome recipes. I’m hoping now that Thanksgiving is over, the many recipe blogs I read will begin sharing cookie recipes instead of pie recipes. Does anyone out there have a recommendation for something exciting I should make?
