Wednesday, December 10, 2008

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

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

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?