Shelly's Snickerdoodles Recipe

Merry Christmas ya'll! I wish you lots of turkey, baked goods, presents and joy!

You might want to sit down for the news I'm about to share... This is the first of four cookie blogs I'm hoping to post over the next week (Kiss Me Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies) !  I had a marathon Christmas Cookies baking session spanning three days, which was super exciting for me and now hopefully for you! Stay tuned!

So if you don't know what a snickerdoodle is, don't feel bad. I'd never heard of them until a few weeks ago when in am across them on a top 10 Christmas cookie list. Essentially they are a light and fluffy sugar cookie rolled I'm cinnamon sugar. They taste like cinnamon buns and heaven.

Shelly's Snickerdoodles (original recipe here)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup lard
11/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsps vanilla
2 tsps white vinegar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsps cinnamon
3 tbsps white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400. Ideally you want your butter and eggs to be at room temperature. 
2. Cream butter and sugar together then add eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla and vinegar. Don't worry you won't be able to taste the vinegar- but it's important as it acts as a leavening agent.
3. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. 
4. Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl. Roll 3/4 inch balls and drop into cinnamon sugar mixture until evenly coated.
5. Pop on a pan at least two inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and place on cooling rack. This makes about 4 dozen.

How to decorate a Christmas tree

It's not even December yet and I've already decorated FOUR Christmas trees this year. I did my own tree last, so the first three were pretty much just practice. I think at this point I am a qualified expert on Christmas Tree Decorating. I might even make myself a Certificate. And yes, I do have that much time on my hands.

OK, step one is Get Prepared! You are going to need a snack and a beverage handy. I decided on popcorn and a Kahlua milkshake. You will also need music. I decided on Drake. Most importantly you need a tree and decorations. If you don't have those, hit the dollar store for decorations and the forest for your tree.

Then, get your tree all set up and test the lights. Everything's working? Great, You were born for this! Now we are ready to decorate! Time for some swag!

Step 3. You're going to want to start with some kind of garland or maybe ribbon. If you've collected any Mardis Gras beads this year, that's great, because you're going to need them! You'll want to string the beads about a foot apart around the tree. I am not too careful with this step as the ornaments will disguise any sloppiness.

If your tree is thin in parts like mine is, you can stuff it with tulle or sneak some ribbon in there. If you like the Charlie Brown look, you can leave it bare.

Wait did I mention you need a helper? If you can't enlist a human friend, your fur friend will suffice.

Step 5 - Spread your ornaments everywhere so you can see what you're working with. You should start with your largest decorations. Space them evenly around the tree. Next, put up any special or unique decorations. From there I start with matching sets and spread them around the tree. 

Uh oh, you broke something? Just pretend it's part of the tradition and yell OPPA! If you borrowed your ornaments from your Mom, remember to tell her The Cat Did It. Also remember to buy her a really good Christmas present.

How's it looking so far? Still have lots of decorations left but think your tree looks great? You are wrong. Keep going. No decoration shall be left in the box. Your tree should look like Christmas threw up all over it. 

If you're having trouble finding spots to hang stuff, remember you can go in deep! Adding decorations towards the centre of the tree just adds depth! 

Are you covered in sparkles yet? No? Then keep going! Yes? Ok, good news. You're almost done.  If you haven't put up your star yet, go for it!

Put down a tree skirt... What? You don't have one? *Face Palm* Put down a blanket or a towel and cover it in sparkles so it looks fancy! Ta-da! Congratulations, your tree is complete. Now it's time for the big reveal. Plug your tree in and turn the lights off and revel in the glory that is Christmas!

Christmas in July.

Oh.... you don't celebrate Christmas in July? *insert awkward silence. I would explain it to you, but I don't think you're ready for it.

We are a Christmas family. This past Christmas we switched things up and went to Mexico. I will take the liberty to speak for the rest of the family and say it was the best trip ever, but that we all felt a little Christmas-blues. No turkey on Christmas? It's blasphemous. I'm pretty sure Jesus would frown upon that. We had Italian food. it was delicious. It absolutely did not taste like Christmas. We spent the day drinking margaritas at the beach, seadooing and playing (and winning) bar games. Carol, god bless her, found us a mini pink and purple Christmas tree. She decked them with smarties balls, which was mind blowing! Smarties balls are a total re-hash scenario from the only other Christmas the Little's spent away from home- Whistler circa 10 years ago -another Christmas fail. The only part about our Mexican Christmas that felt like the holidays was the hangover I felt in the morning!

And all that rambling brings me to the point of my story...we need a DO OVER on Christmas, and no, we absolutely can not wait until December to make this happen. Christmas in July, folks! The second annual! Attended by various friends and family, this event features a FULL TURKEY DINNER and a sick amount of Christmas baked goods. I am hoping that someone either finds egg nog or goes to town and makes it from scratch!

 I was super excited at the prospect of breaking out my Xmas cookie cutters again and was debating between gingerbread and shortbread. Unfortunately, I was told that cookies were taken, so I defaulted to cupcakes. Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Butter cream. Total cheater cupcakes- I used a box cake mix and doctored up store bought frosting. I will not let you hold that against me, they are adorable and allowed me to also get my car washed and laundry done tonight!

THE SECOND ANNUAL CHRISTMAS IN JULY CELEBRATION IS UPON US! Coming up this Saturday, I am stoked for delicious treats, turkey, fake Christmas trees, and out of season decorations! Tis the (fake) season! Happy holidays. xo.

Behold.

Michelle's Christmas in July Red Velvet Cupcakes.

ChristmasTime

December 20th, some people are just getting their Christmas baking and shopping started. Some people have just gotten their trees decorated and lights up. Five whole days until Christmas. There's tons of time for rum and eggnog (RumNog, if you will). Plenty of time to listen to Christmas music. Days and days to get yourself into that holiday spirit, to fatten up on all the christmas goodies and wish everyone a Merry Christmas...that is, if you are not going to Mexico for the holidays.

Someone going to Mexico for Christmas is taking down their Christmas tree today, which they have had up since November 24th in order to savor it in all its glory. That someone has already amassed an impressive list of baked goods this holiday season (gingerbread, shortbread, fudge, caramel popcorn, snowball cookies). She has bought, wrapped and gifted her Christmas presents. She has listened to the Michael Buble Christmas CD sixteen million times in her flannel reindeer Christmas pajamas. She has had a full out family dinner with turkey and all the trimmings that was one of the best yet. She has watched Home Alone and the Shrek Christmas movie. This girl refused to miss out on the magic that is Christmas.

That girl is me. I am that girl. I think i have gotten all my requisite xmas acitivies in but i still feel a sadness about not being home for Christmas. Do not get me wrong- I am super duper excited to be leaving to Mexico for the holidays. I can not wait to lay in the sun and do absolutely nothing of any importance. i can't wait to go diving and sport fishing (i hope we don't catch anything) and adventuring. I am stoked to be spending two weeks with my family and best friend. I just feel sad about breaking tradition. I did it once before and it kind of tore a hole in my heart.

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope your holidays are filled with cheer (RumNogs).

If you see Santa- send him my way. I forgot to leave a forwarding address. I sure hope he got me that Polly Pocket I've been asking for, for the last 8 years.

holiday lolcatz.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Please note that Watson and I will be travelling to The Little's for Christmas day. The Big Breakfast will commence at 9AM I'm told. This will be followed by PRESENT MADNESS. Drinking will commence shortly after that, to be followed by Christmas Dinner. In attendance will be the original 5; grandma & grandpa; great uncle ron & aunty joyce; maggie and grandpa robert; uncle stu and his terrible 2; Peter, The Apple Pie for Breakfast Guy; assorted strays unknown.

Watson has major plans to ruin Carol's tree. Louie has plans to eat Watson. I imagine it will be a quiet, lovely day for all.