Start Time: 11:45 am
Stop Time: 2:30 am
Goal: 22 types of cookies, packaged, wrapped & read to deliver on Tuesday 12/18
Baked: Paris Breakfast Shortbread(4x), Cranberry Shortbread (4x), Vanilla Bean Shortbread (4x), Lemon Sugar Rounds (6x), Pecan Sandies (4x), Gingersnaps (4), Oatmeal Raisin (6), Snickerdoodles (5x), Peanut Butter toffee pretzel (3)
9 types of cookies got baked today. NINE.
I got up a little later than I wanted today, knowing that the first thing I had to do was finish those 20-ish cookies I left undone last night. MOTU had to go back to reality today, but she edged the cookies for me so all I had to do was paint the design on. Her energy and help got me through the tough spots of no-bake days.
Dude, I’m running on fumes, coffee and pure muscle memory right now. I had hoped to finish baking all the cookies tonight, but I can’t complete it. I’m just too tired. There are 2 left to do tomorrow– Chinese Almond and Extreme Brownie. And I’m toying with NOT doing the Extreme Brownie cookie to save myself some time.
Every year, I wind up using my boxing day to finish off my baking and this year, I was determined. I really will get to the point where boxing day is about putting the boxes together. It just never works out that way. But…let’s celebrate the fact that I got NINE types of cookies baked today. The Husband did one of them– the time and labor intensive peanut butter toffee pretzel. This one takes up counter space because he needs to drizzle it with caramel, white chocolate and dark chocolate, so he had to wait until the decorator cookies were done.
I cleared out all the dough from the fridge and cleaned the fridge for the second time…On Friday, I smushed an open container of pickles and it spilled all up in the fridge so for the past 2 days my fridge has smelled like pickle juice even though I cleaned it out the day it happened… C’est la vie or La vie en pickle… take your pick.
Today happened to be a wrestling pay-per-view day, so baking happened with a TLC (tables, ladders, and chairs) match happening in the background which is sorta funny if you think about it. Especially since the colors I’ve been using are very Hulk Hogan-esque. I also think we came up with next year’s cookie theme too. I need to start thinking about it and picking the best ideas because this one could get out of hand easily.
Tomorrow will be a heavy bagging day, and it’s just me & The Husband on our own as everyone goes back to work tomorrow. Potsie pointed out that Moosie is exhausted and just wants to sleep. I think it’s because I’ve been keeping her up so late, and all day (when she usually sleeps), I’ve been banging around, interrupting her. She’s extra docile ad sleepy, rather than being hyper and all over the place, so maybe this is what needs to happen more. I need to keep her awake, so she’s not getting her full day of sleep…
It’s been cold and rainy–not great for drying icing– which in retrospect could be why it seemed to take extra long to dry the decorator cookies. The two oven speed was so great today– knocked out all those cookies and there is a huge pile of snickerdoodles and gingersnaps on the table for bagging in the morning.
Tomorrow is the final push– a little more baking, bagging and assembling the boxes. I can’t believe cookie madness is coming to a close. It’s been stressful, successful yet a tad uneventful, which is weird. Sure, there’s been hiccups, and The Husband & I had a minor disagreement this morning because he has an idea of what order I should be doing things so he can help me, but I have this whole thing planned and sorry bub, I need to do this according to MY list… But it’s not been the roller coaster it usually is.
Maybe it’s me, getting older or planning, but it’s flowing ok. Yeah, I’m achy and tired all over. I actually can’t wait to sit on my ass at work Tuesday instead of being on my feet all day. However, I’m still having fun. This house has been a fine home for this project and I feel like there’s a new ballet that I’m learning this year, which is fulfilling, new and fun. The challenge is good.
Final push tomorrow. We’re all beat. The Husband, the dogs, Potsie, McIrish– we’re pretty tired. It’s time for bed and doggie snuggles.
g’night!