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December 11, 2005 What I Did This Weekend 
There's only two weeks to go, and the pressure is on.
As of 8:00 am Sunday morning, I've: - Heat embossed all of the images for the holiday cards.
Fun fun fun!
The frightening thing is, this was fun. I made enough for about thirty cards, and only stopped with great reluctance. It's fast and easy, it looks smart, and it appeals to the geek in me to see the powders melt and rise and turn shiny. - I assembled eight of the cards. Here's an example:
Could Blitzen be visiting a mailbox near you?
- I've baked shortbread, gingersnaps, sugar cookies and chocolate truffles.
Yet more evidence of my sickness
The trick is to run it like an assembly line, and if that sounds like no fun, well then, difference is what makes the world go round. Make the gingersnap dough; make the gingersnaps; make the truffle centre mix (and it is possibly the easiest and most decadent-looking baked good ever); refrigerate it; make the sugar cookie dough and refrigerate it; make the shortbread dough and refrigerate that; take out the sugar cookie dough, roll it out and cut it; bake it; when the last tray full is baking, clean off the counter; take out the shortbread and get it in the oven; while they're baking (they take 25 minutes) roll the truffle mix into balls and put them in the freezer.
Or if you're like me, shape them into something vaguely round and give up. They taste just as good, so who cares? By the way, when I say the easiest and most decadent baked good ever, I mean it: They look intimidating, but they are shockingly simple: Melt butter and heat cream in a pot on the stove, pour over a bowl full of chopped chocolate, mix until the chocolate has melted completely, add a bit of vanilla, put in the fridge. Ta da! Truffle mix. The recipe I use says to dip them afterwards in a melted chocolate mixture: You can do that. It's yummy, and it's not too hard. But I prefer to roll them in icing sugar. It looks sharp, for one thing; it's easier, for another; it's very tasty; and it makes for easy handling, since there's something on the outside that won't melt.
Today, assembling more cards and trying to finish the Winter Holiday of Your Choice Blog Extravaganza Gifty Thingie. We're going to visit my parents, so I don't think I'll have time for any more baking today. Though there will at least be a batch of Cheesecake Brownies, Super Easy Chocolate Bar Cookies (and they are--let me know if you want the recipe), probably Holiday Blossoms, at least one more batch of shortbread (a very simple three-ingredient brown-sugar recipe which has been handed down for generations, so no sharing, sorry--but I have another one that I can share which is similar) since I'm married to a shortbread monster and seem to have spawned another one, and some white chocolate truffles. And then we'll see. Strange as I'm sure this sounds, I really love this. I'll enjoy the time after Christmas when I can just sit back and eat the fruits of my labours, too, but this part--the frenzied preparation, every second planned out--is marvelous. Seeing everything take shape and come together the way I wanted, hammering out new traditions, making everything lovely, and--as sick as I know you will think this--doing as much as possible of it by hand--it just wouldn't be the Winter Holiday of My Choice any other way. I would have made a fabulous Victorian housewife, if anything could ever induce me to use a broom. Posted by Andrea at December 11, 2005 8:23 AM under The Winter Holiday of Your Choice! EMAIL this entry (comments fields are below this section) Comments Domestic goddess! Holy camoly. That is fabulous. I am so impressed--making cards AND baking all in one weekend. You know, Victorians used outhouses--that would put me off more than the sweeping. Hey, love the new Frances doing snowtime pic on top. Posted by: Running2Ks at December 11, 2005 3:55 PM
Okay, Andrea. I have been using the "but I'm a working mother of preschoolers" as my excuse, but you've got the same excuse and you're frankly making me look bad!!! Holy crap, I wish I could get just one project done, and look at you go. But what I really wanted to say is, I love love LOVE the new banner. Sheesh, another project. You have a clone, right? Is that the secret? Posted by: Danigirl at December 11, 2005 8:44 PM
My god. And I thought making gingerbread men from the Pillsbury tube was domestic! Posted by: Jen at December 11, 2005 8:47 PM
R2K -- excellent point. OK then. I would have made an excellent Victorian housewife IF I could still have a toilet AND anything could ever induce me to use a broom. dani--Well, to be fair, I'm the mother of one preschooler, and she's a very easy kid who doesn't mind sharing Mommy with a stove for an hour or two, especially if she gets to eat the cookies warm from the oven. Plus, I took some photos of my parents' set-up while we were there this afternoon. After which all of this will pale in comparison. Really. Posted by: Andrea at December 11, 2005 8:55 PM
Those sound yummy (we made Hanukkah cookies this weekend, and Curious Girl did all the decorating and much of the cutting so they look, um, not quite as well-defined as yours). You should post the recipes somewhere! I'm awestruck by the cards. They're lovely. Posted by: Susan at December 12, 2005 11:00 AM
You little elf you! The cards are fab...I need you to move near me so you can teach me how to do them. (BTW, there is a completely renovated house for sale on my street. Corner lot, huge yard, mature pines in the back, near the lovely park you saw when you were here. And its less than $200,000. ;) ) And I'll seriously take any of the recipes you'd care to share. They all sounds so scrumptious. Posted by: Tanya at December 12, 2005 2:47 PM
Yummmmm. I love the cards! I want to do my holiday card embossing also, but haven't had the time! GRRRR! I am so sad, but yours look fabulous. The cookies too! Posted by: halloweenlover at December 12, 2005 2:54 PM
Hmm. Well, I'm putting together some of these recipes for my brother, so I'll see if I get a chance to post them sometime soon. Posted by: Andrea at December 12, 2005 8:23 PM
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