Cookie free day

I haven’t had a cookie all day.  I think I may have the shakes from withdrawal.

I decided I would make a mug of hot chocolate instead.  I got some chocolate peanut butter cocoa at Target a few weeks ago and tonight seemed like the perfect night to try it.  Does it beat a cookie?  Hmm…hard to say, but the hot chocolate is pretty awesome.  I think it’s good I broke the cookie streak. 

Today:  THREE WEEKS until my wedding. 

It’s been a busy day of wedding planning.  We met with our photographer (Sarah Crowder) today to discuss what pictures we wanted, who should be in them, timeline stuff and all that.  She’s going to come take pictures of us all getting ready, and then all day long!  We had a nice lunch at Bridge—some delicious sweet and spicy cashews plus a Cuban sandwich for me (see, no cookies.)

After the meeting Chris and I did a bunch of other stuff for the wedding.  Those of you who have planned weddings know what I mean, but seriously, there are just so many details to cover!  We’ve been working with our officiant on the wording and order of our ceremony, and starting to put together the rough draft of the programs.  I ordered the guest book and pens (not a completely normal guest book) and I’ve been putting together the finishing touches on my wardrobe.  We’re also planning our cruise excursions and figuring out if we need any clothes for the honeymoon (answer, yes, of course a few things!).  It’s incredibly fun and exciting, but there is just SO much to do.  Tomorrow has a entirely different "to do" list.  One item of which is to get started on the seating chart!

Funny Wedding Ecard: Please don't sit me at a loser table.

Funny Wedding Ecard: Let's focus on pairing single guests to avoid the reality of spending eternity as a couple.

THREE WEEKS.

It’s going to be awesome. 

How was your weekend?  Mine was great!  I attended two different Christmas parties (and took NO pictures, sorry!).  The first was at my friend Megan’s house on Saturday night.  It was pretty low key—lots of chit chat and mulled wine.  I really loved the mulled wine.  The second party was a drop in on Sunday afternoon at a friend’s house in Lafayette Square.  The house was GORGEOUS (they are renting, but did a fantastic job decorating) and the snacks were excellent.  There was a delicious buffalo chicken dip that I want to get the recipe for and also some candied bacon cashews.  SO tasty! (Cashews are the greatest thing ever.)

In between parties I ran about 5 miles uphill and downhill with Vanessa.  We’re running a 12K this weekend in Tower Grove Park.  It was a tough run—I was really out of breath for most of it.  I think that means it was a really good workout!

I have one more week of teaching before Christmas/wedding/honeymoon break.  Seriously, it’s crazy that I’ll be on vacation from teaching for approximately 4 weeks!  My poor students will probably do no practicing at all :(  (If any are reading, let this be a challenge to you, keep up on your practicing over the break!!) 

I debated cooking a nice Christmas dinner, but Chris and I have decided to go out instead.  That way we won’t have a ton of leftovers around tempting us, but we can still eat a really nice dinner.  We are on our own for Christmas Day, which I am honestly looking forward to!  After last year’s blizzard that almost trapped us on Long Island for weeks, I’m really excited to just stay in town and relax.  There will be plenty of family time at the wedding.  Maybe we’ll be extra fancy and go out for Christmas Eve dinner as well, before my gig.  Recommendations on where to go, anybody?  We will probably see the new Sherlock Holmes around that time as well.

(VOTE for my blog for best personal blog in St Louis)

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011: Eggnog Cookies

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

(The premise is this: sign up. Receive the addresses of three other food bloggers. Send each of them one dozen delicious homemade cookies. Receive three different boxes of scrumptious cookies from other bloggers. Eat them all yourself (or, you know, share. If you want. No judgment either way.) Post your cookie recipe on your blog. See everyone else’s cookie recipes. Salivate. Get lots of great ideas for next years’ cookie swap. Rinse and repeat.)

 

I have to say:  by the time I got started on these cookies I was super "cookied" out.  Originally I had planned to send my tri-color cookies for this swap, but there ended up not being enough of them.  The problem was, after slaving over the tri-color cookies and then hosting a cookie party, I really didn’t want to bake anymore!  If I had been able to wait until the following weekend I would have been up for it, but goodness I was busy. 

So I found an eggnog cookie recipe that I had been meaning to try for a couple of years, and since I had eggnog in the fridge, it seemed appropriate.  It also seemed easy enough…

I decided to add a little extra eggnog and use less nutmeg since the reviewers seemed to recommend that.  The dough was very sticky and tough to work with, and the cookies are NOT pretty.  I also didn’t package them pretty, sorry guys.  I just stuck them in freezer bags.  I had originally thought I’d get little holidays tins to put the cookies in…nope.  None of that happened.  I forgot to take a picture too(that’s how you can tell I’m not really a food blogger!) but I posted one that looked pretty similar to my cookies.  (Forgive me, I’m planning a wedding!)

Even with the crappy presentation, I hope my swap buddies enjoy them.  My fiance thought they were quite tasty, very mild flavor, but unique.  (He is a huge eggnog lover, but I think even if you don’t care for eggnog you’ll enjoy these!)  I don’t have a single cookie left at home, which makes me sad and also makes me want to make another batch!

 
Eggnog Cookies, originally from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients
  • 1 1/4 cups white sugar
  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup eggnog (I used 2/3 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
  2. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  3. Cream sugar and butter until light. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks; beat at medium speed with mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
  4. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg. Bake 20 to 23 minutes until bottoms turn light brown.

Again, not my picture—the powdered sugar would probably be a nice touch too!  I didn’t do that.

Who did I send these to?

Loy at Grandma Loy’s Kitchen

Brandy at Nutmeg Nanny

Amber at Bluebonnets and Brownies

Go check out their blogs, they have fantastic photography and recipes!  I will stop beating myself up over my lousy cookie presentation ;) 

Here’s what I got in return:

IMG_1422

Chocolate cherry chip cookies from Kristin at Meringue Bake Shop.

IMG_1448

Candy Cane Kisses Cookies from Amber at Bluebonnets & Brownies.

IMG_1450

Snickers Cookies from Brandy at Nutmeg Nanny.

All were delicious!

Want to participate next year?  Go here to sign up for an email reminder.

Remember to go vote for my blog for best personal blog in St Louis!! I don’t think I’ll win or anything, but a girl can dream right?  If you vote for me, tell me in the comments (and you can do this more than once) and I’ll love you forever.