Christmas Recap

Christmas 2012 was so very special for our family! Gia is at a really fun age this year and the magic of Christmas was alive and well in our house. Although she was a little scared of Santa, she was certainly excited to hear that when she was asleep Santa would come and leave her presents.    On Christmas Eve we went to my in-laws for a traditional Italian fish dinner. Gia had so much fun playing with her cousins and opening a ton of presents!

Cheese faces

She said "wooooow!" with each present. Here's the wow face!

  We came home and put on our pjs. (Dee-jamas as Gia says.) Then we put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.  

  As soon as Gia went to bed it started to snow. It was a beautiful night and Jon and I sat by the fire and opened our gifts. I got an iPad from Jon and a photoline from Gia so that I can display her artwork in an attractive way. I gave Jon 3 pairs of his favorite sweatpants and a Brita water pitcher. (He's hard to buy for, ok?) Gia got him new slippers. (His old ones went in the garbage during our potty training days. Enough said.)   On Christmas morning, Gia woke up at 7, which is late for her (thank you sweet baby for letting us sleep a little bit). She was very excited to go downstairs to see if Santa came.

She was shocked when she saw all this:  

She was SO excited about the kitchen.

She played with the kitchen for a while before she opened the rest of her presents.  

  Before Christmas, I asked Gia several times what she wanted Santa to bring her. Every single time she'd tell me she wanted a donkey. Yes, a donkey. Some days it was a real donkey and other days it was a purple donkey. I searched high and low for a purple donkey and found a gorgeous one on Etsy for $65. The order time was 5 weeks, so that was out. Instead I got her a small stuffed donkey and a book called The Wonkey Donkey.    When she opened the donkey on Christmas morning she thought it was a baby horsey. I just about died laughing. After all that talk about a donkey she didn't even realize she got one. Once she realized what he was, she was thrilled and hugged him immediately.   

After a Christmas nap with Elfie...

...my family came over. We ate, and opened more presents & Gia wore her Christmas dress.

It was just a perfect two days. I can't wait to do it all again next year! Merry Christmas from my family to you and yours!

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies from a Cake Mix

I absolutely love all the baking that goes on around the holidays. Remember these and these?   Well, on Christmas Eve I was in charge of bringing a dessert to my in-law's house. I thought I'd make Pignoli Cookies like a good Italian daughter-in-law. But, one batch of Pignoli batter only makes about 2 dozen cookies, so I wanted to make something else.   I've always wanted to make whoopie pies. They're touted as being like cupcakes (which I happen to LOVE even more than cookies) but there's a better icing-to-cake ratio. YUM!    If you know me and my baking by now, you know I love to check out a dozen different recipes for the same thing and then take bits and pieces of each one to create the perfect recipe. The whoopie pies were no different. I wanted to make red velvet ones because they're red and I thought it would be cute for Christmas, and I wanted to start with a cake mix to make the whole thing a bit easier. I knew I'd do a homemade frosting though, to give it that "real" feel.   So, here's my awesome Red Velvet Whoopie Pies from a Cake Mix  

1 cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a mixer, combine cake mix, eggs, water and oil.  Beat together for approx. 2 minutes.

On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, scoop out batter into round mounds.  I used a teaspoon and heaped my scoops.  Use the back of a spoon to round out scoops of batter into perfect circles.

Bake for 7 minutes.  Cool completely.

Icing 1 stick of butter, softened 8 oz of cream cheese, softened 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract  

 For the icing, in your KitchenAid mixer with the paddle attachment, whip together butter and sugar (start with 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, then add more if necessary for thickness).  Whip for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.  Scoop into a ziptop bag with the corner cut off to a 1/2 inch opening.

To fill, pipe icing onto the bottom cookie (wrong side up), then top with another cookie (right side up). Be generous with the frosting! It makes all the difference.

Award Winning Pistachio Cookies

So, here are the cookies that won me the "Best Cookie" Award at my Christmas Cookie Swap 2 years ago.  Wait, that's not a real award, you say? Well, make these cookies and I promise you'll be singing a different tune. They are that good. I'm sure they'd win actual awards in a real contest, if I entered them.     Pistachio Cookies  

2 1/4 c. unsifted all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. butter, well softened

1/4 c. granulated white sugar

3/4 c.  light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. almond extract

1 (4 oz.) pkg. pistachio instant pudding (used dry)

2 eggs

2/3 cup chopped pistachios

6-7 drops green food coloring

1. Mix flour and baking soda in medium bowl. 

2. Combine butter, both sugars, both extracts and instant pudding powder in large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth. 

3. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

4. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Batter will be very stiff; mix well with floured hands. 

5. Cover bowl; If time, chill several hours or overnight for easier shaping. Form into smooth balls by teaspoonfuls. 

6. Place 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. 

7. If desired, drizzle with confectioners' sugar icing mixed with a few drops green food coloring or melted chocolate.

So sorry for the delay in posting this recipe. It's been a rough few days here at our house. Last week Gia not only dipped her toothbrush in the toilet, she also licked the floor at my mom's house and then she licked a mirror when we were at Macy's. Of course she got a fever and a cold from it. And now I have it too, only 10 times worse. I have felt horrible for days. I didn't even make it to the cookie swap the other night. I didn't win with my Oreo Cheesecake Cookies ; the winner was a salted caramel thumbprint cookie that totally deserved the win. I'll get that recipe soon!

Holiday Traditions

I'm big on traditions. It makes me so happy when we create these memories year after year. It makes me feel grounded and connected to my past. It makes me feel like I'm giving something special to the future of my family. Many of my family's traditions revolve around food. As a little girl I remember eating ice box cake every Christmas.  I remember leaving milk and cookies out for Santa and usually getting a note back from Santa. I remember that, in our house, Santa wrapped the presents with special paper. I remember not being allowed to get up before 6 am to see what Santa brought. I'm continuing some of my family traditions with Gia and we're starting our own.  Every year we go see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. 

Gia's face as she saw the tree for the first time.

Me & Gia in front of the tree

   Gia's Christmas dress is from Nordstrom. 

      And this year, we started another tradition: decorating Gingerbread houses. Gia calls it The Christmas House (which I think is adorable) and she had so much fun decorating the house. She probably had even more fun eating the candy that was supposed to go on the house, but that's ok. Whatever makes her happy.  

Gia and Daddy decorating

 

The finished product

What are your favorite holiday traditions?