Tuesday, December 18, 2007

third week of Advent

There's been a flurry of activity lately, and not much time to write, as I helped my daughter get ready for her trip to Florida with her cousin~we shopped, baked for gifting, and did laundry, all while worrying about the approaching nor'easter.
Besides caramel corn with cashews and amaretto truffles, I made these cherry double chocolate cookies from Epicurious.com. They may look like dark blobs in my picture, but they are scrumptious. I used dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate, and along with the toasted pecans and dried sour cherries ~ Mmmm, amazing!!
edited:
**[note~I used a melon-ball sized scoop of dough and had to reduce the cooking time to 8 minutes after my first pan burned.]**

[The labels, which I printed on some cardstock, are from The French-Inspired Home.]

The storm reached us Saturday night and left us with about 14 inches of snow. Thankfully, the two travelers left just in time to make it past the ice and snow, hitting mostly rain as they drove through the South, and arrived safely at their grandparents.
I took advantage of our 'snowed-in' weekend to decorate and put up the tree while watching Tasha Tudor's Take Peace and Cary Grant in The Bishop's Wife (I love this movie!).

This week, it's Christmas cards and more baking...and a few gifts yet to make...I hope.

How are your Christmas plans coming along?

16 comments:

  1. I read everything you wrote, but I was so entralled with the snow, it is all I remember. I would so LOVE to have some snow... any snow. It is so beautiful!

    I want to make those dark chocolate cherry confections. They sound delicious and are made with two of my very favorite flavors.

    I'm off to do some Christmas grocery shopping, then we'll do some Christmas baking. We're still wrapping gifts and trying to get the cards mailed.

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  2. I had to ask you this much later, how are your counters holding up? I love the idea of using such beautiful wood and so I am wondering, would you do it again?

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  3. I love your posts and am so excited when I see one in my Google Reader!

    You have such a warm house and are so talented!

    Debbie

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  4. The cherry double chocolate cookies look delicious - another great recipe :-} I have the French Inspired Home book too - the labels look gorgeous printed out. Your snowy pictures are beautiful.

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  5. Your snow pictures are so beautiful and it is a perfect time to stay indoors and finish up projects.
    The cookies look delish...anything with chocolate is yummy.
    Friends are dropping by for snacks and to visit so I've been getting ready for the evening.
    I still have a couple of gifts to get and baking I want to do and then I think I'm all set. Keep warm Linda

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  6. I watched both movies this weekend too! We just got a St. Bernard so were dying to pop The Bishops Wife in and see theirs:-)Those cookies sound good--cherries and chocolate--oh yeah, heaven!

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  7. Slowly but surely I am getting ready for Christmas. I just love all your snow, we could use a bit more here in the middle of Canada.

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  8. Those cherry chocolate cookies sound something like your scrumptuous muffins from summer!

    I'm still in "baking mode" (late starter). Today I baked off the Pfeffernusse (peppernuts) cookies and some snowballs (tea cakes). I still have the sugar cookie dough in the frig waiting to make cookie cut-outs.

    Glad Tidings!
    Jody

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  9. Anonymous11:17 PM

    Merry Christmas!

    I absolutely love The Bishop's Wife. It is my all time favorite Christmas movie. My second favorite is the remake. It's not much like the first, but I really enjoy it. It's called The Preacher's Wife. Whitney Houston stars and sings. Lovely.

    I put my tree up this weekend too.
    I'm new to blogging. I invite you to come and visit my blog cottage and read about our tree trimming traditions.

    I wish you the happiest Christmas!

    Laura of Harvest Lane

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  10. Your Christmas preparation sound just delightful! We also have snow now and it makes the world so sparkley and bright! May you have plenty of time to complete your projects. Wishing you and yor family a joyous holiday!

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  11. I envy you all of that glorious white stuff!

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  12. Those cookies sounds YUMMY - thanks for sharing

    Karen

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  13. The snow pictures are beautiful. We only have a few inches here.

    Come visit my blog when you get a chance - I gave you an award!!

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  14. Oh,the snow looks so wonderful. We always swelter at Christmas so to see everything all white and so pure to behold must be very special.

    You have a wonderful blog.

    Shell.

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  15. Mrs Hurzeler,
    I do like my oak countertops. They are holding up well so far, other than near the sink, where I see a couple spots where the grain has raised up a little. This area sees a lot of water, so after the holidays, I am going to lightly sand and apply some more coats of polyurethane. (We started out with 12 coats of the wipe-on.) To me, this extra maintenance is still worth it, and yes, I would do it again.

    Deb

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  16. Mmm, those cookies sound good!

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Thank you for taking time to leave a comment--I love reading each and every one! I will try to answer any questions you have in the comment section. Due to the amount of spam, I am sadly no longer able to accept Anonymous comments....Kindly, Deb

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