Christmas Part I

Like most people we know (particularly those who live in our neighborhood), we began preparing for Christmas shortly after Thanksgiving. Even so, because we spent Thanksgiving in Tampa with my parents, we were a bit behind on the decorating not being able to put up lights as people were storing their leftover turkey. To compensate, we let no grass grow under our feet when it came to holiday baking. This year we baked an unbelievable amount of sugary holiday treats. Having never baked a gingerbread figure before in my life, it was uncharted territory, but gloriously fun for me. And for Grace - well that goes without saying:


Grace has always loved being in the kitchen. Even before we moved to Fort Myers and actually got a kitchen that comfortably fit all of us at one time, we would have Grace propped up on our tiny railroad of a New York City kitchen counter, stirring, sifting and pouring like the best of them. Once we got to Fort Myers, we definitely kicked things up a notch (Bam!). With the aid of some beautiful aprons courtesy of the early Christmas present from our favorite New Jersey friends we got 5 kids (that's right!!) in the kitchen to make 7 (yup!) different types of Christmas cookies to enjoy and give as gifts to our deserving friends and neighbors. Here's mommy and Grace sporting the adorable aprons (stethoscope optional):


Mamaw Perkins came over early to help us get started. After all, the kids needed some cookie dough that was ready to be cut with the 50 or so cookie cutters we lined up for the occasion:


And here's Grace measuring:



And pouring:



And here's MacKenzie trying Grace's apron on for size as she prepares amazing chocolate-hazelnut smooches courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis and adapted by me for Christmas (use red and green sugar instead of orange).


And that would be Nutella - a delicious hazelnut spread brought to us from Italy (where we get nearly everything delicious-wise) and the key ingredient to the smooches - all over Grace's face:



Here's Daddy checking in on our progress:


Lunch break!


And batch number 1 is done - whole wheat gingerbread men and ladies:


Gotta have an "o" face (which is apparently a reference to a movie called "Office Space" that I have never seen, but I am a big Jennifer Aniston fan, so I am putting it in my queue):


It's time to break out the sprinkles:


Oooh...:


Ah...:


Last - but certainly not least - Mexican Wedding Cookies (my favorite!):


Now, all of these cookies really weren't just for Brandon, Grace and I to snack away on until we went up a dress size (trust me, with my brother's wedding swiftly approaching I certainly did not need a single one of these treats). In fact, we had a Christmas party. With friends. And kids. And food. So, naturally we needed dessert. And what better way to display all of our hard work than to create a dessert table (picking required):


The party was a great success thanks in large part to Brandon and his ingenious idea to make an outdoor theatre for the kids to watch Frosty while the grownups chowed on his amazing Turkey legs a la Disney. Here are the parents eating away - notice how peaceful everyone looks:


And here are the kiddies - pretty great, huh?:


Of course, that beautiful, angelic picture was taken before they had their cookies. Here they are on an all out sugar high, running back and forth on our front porch playing something called - Hug Monster (I kid you not!):


Water break! (Yes, Grace's feet are THAT dirty!):



All in all, a big success for child and grown-up alike, and a terrific way to get through the 7 dozen or so cookies we crafted.