Lately I’ve been worried that I’ve lost my holiday spice. Yes, spice. The gusto that comes with unpacking the tree & stringing the lights around the house. I feel like my spice was stronger back at the start of November, when Bing & “Jingle Bell Rock” first began to dance along the airwaves. Thanksgiving baking wore me out a little, although it has taught me nothing, as I plan to do the same in a couple of weeks. This year I’ve got more on my plate, & the deadlines I set for myself every year seem even more unattainable than usual.

It’s all okay, though. I realize this when I look at the little pink-cheeked bundle two feet away. We’ve got the best little Christmas package, the finest blessing we can ever receive. Christmas has become even sweeter. All the more reason to bake, all the more reason to decorate, all the more reason to make the house as cozy as it can get. And, at the same time, all the more reason to take a break from all of the holiday standards I set for myself & snuggle with the ones I love. Take the time to enjoy those cookies & maybe ask Ant to decorate them with me. To hold Ella & introduce her to every ornament, to see her face lit up in the lights on the tree. To settle in early & revel in cheesy holiday movies.

The actual day of Christmas is always bittersweet for me, as I know I will have to wait another year for this feeling to return again. Really it’s the buildup to Christmas, those few weeks between Thanksgiving & Christmas Eve, that are most exciting to me. Next year & the years to come will be even more so as Ella Faye gets older & I can introduce her to holiday traditions & our own little family can create new ones.

I think I’ve got holiday spice. I just need to taste it a little more.
Here are some favorite captures of the season thus far…holiday spice in photos, if you will:

Pumpkin biscotti

Thanksgiving baking - cranberry pear pies & pumpkin biscotti

Ella Faye’s first trip to Glendale Glitters, in her stripey hat & shoes that glimmer.

She slept the WHOLE time…

…not one light nor sprite did she see.

Hanging the lights

“I don’t really like being up this high,” he says.

Homemade kettle corn, plus some red food coloring for festiveness.

More to come…

I love love love to bake. Lately though, it seems I have hit a bit of strife when it comes to cookies. (Do you recall my flat chocolate chip cookie dilemma?) I don’t remember having these problems in my parents’ kitchen growing up. I don’t know, maybe I should finally invest in an oven thermometer.

Or maybe it takes a while for a kitchen to accumulate the spirit of warmth & coziness that produces perfect cookies.

Anyhow, would you care for a GingerFlimsy?

My first attempts came out very melty.

Here they are in the oven. I’ve always loved those Pillsbury commercials that show the cookies baking in the oven, slowly melting down, then puffing up into plump discs. Last night I decided to finally sit down in front of the oven & watch my own real-life simulation. They didn’t puff up. I took them out & they sunk down even flatter.

After adding another fourth cup of flour, they came out looking like actual cookies.

Gingersnaps at last. Still somewhat lacking the cracks that signify them as “snaps,” but cookie-like nonetheless. And they taste lovely. How nice they’d be with a warm cup of tea.

Here’s wishing you & yours a beautiful Friday evening!