It still hits

Sometimes, though maybe not as strongly in the past. Maybe it's the holidays. Maybe it's because he'd be the age of my students.
Mostly, it's probably because I don't want to forget about him. I want him to stay close to my memory. I want to be abl eot share his memory with my own family some day.
He would be 11 now. What would he want for Christmas? Books, a phone, or a baseball glove, or possibly a fishing pole? It's hard not knowing.

Love you and miss you still Dakota, my precious nephew.

Christmases Past

What's a Coming?

My last day as a TEACHER, at least in the traditional sense. I am ready to move on, but I also feel these ropes holding me back. I know it's what I need to do, but sometimes question if its what I want to do. I'm excited by the opportunity before me, yet wondering how to hold on to those little moments of today.

I'm torn, but I know my kids will be fine. Will I?

A Repeat?

I made the soup below again tonight. It's very cold and windy, and I started thinking about this soup around 3:00 today. It is the perfect thing for a cold wintry night!
I did add about 3/4 cup cooked chicken and served it over brown rice. It makes it much heartier and filling, though is just as good without.

I have cooked more lately. I am also preparing for the holidays.

I have make the Mixed Nut Spiced Toffee several times this season--it's always a hit. I use whatever nuts I have on hand, or sometimes not at all. I think I will make some to take to work next week.

Sunday, I made these Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies. Well, I didn't make the filling yet. I doubled the recipe and just made the cookie part and they are in the freezer. I remembered that the cookies were fairly large (IMO), so I made some of them smaller. I think I'll have about 42 sandwiches when I am done. I have thought about these cookies often since the last (and only) time I've made them. I hope they are as good as I remember!

I made these Peppermint Meltaways for Thanksgiving. I think I must like peppermint more than the rest of my family. I want to experiment some by adding some cocoa to these.

I am still deciding what else to make. I think this year I will go with more tried and true. I just don't have the energy to try much new.
On that note, I think it's time to have some Chai-Spice Snickerdoodles. YUM. It seems like I tend to like the things that are a little bit "different". All-spice in toffee? White pepper in cookies? You get the picture. Seriously though--these cookies are amazing.

I also think I will try the Maple Spice Walnut Cookies again. I liked them the first time, but was talking while preparing them and didn't add all the flour needed (darn ADD). If you love maple, you'll love these! Plus they are a cooking light recipe.

I may also make the Gingerbread Truffles that I made a few years ago. However, when looking up that recipe, I saw this one for Caramel-Dark Chocolate Truffles with Fleur de Sel. So maybe I WILL try something new.

I think that sounds like enough for one person (to make, not to eat!) for one year, don't you?