I'll skip by the part of yesterday that involved a very quick exit from my office, a tense stop at Target for saltines and fruit snacks for my little guy who was also sick (now that is true parental devotion - being sick in a public bathroom rather than disappoint a sick child), and what had to be the longest commute home ever, followed by the entire rest of the day too weak to move.
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| Kitty was deliriously happy with the electric blanket |
This morning I had already taken a vacation day. The original plan was to hit the gym, then take the kiddos to a nearby botanical garden for their holiday lights display, and catch up on some of the zillion holiday-related projects I am trying to accomplish in the next 19 days. But who's counting. That didn't happen. Instead I am resting, trying to be somewhat productive (I don't do "still" well), and generally alternating between climbing walls and collapsing in a heap on the couch.
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| Birdseed ornaments. My son has a new "photo face" - I hope it passes quickly |
We did manage to make some birdseed ornaments to hang outside for our feathered friends, to roast the extra turkey breast we bought post-Thanksgiving sale, and to make some Christmas cookies. The latter 2 were at my insistence. As seems to happen every week by Friday, the only thing in our refrigerator is frosting and eggs. Buttercream omelets just don't cut it, especially with a family recovering from the stomach flu.
The cookies I made are one of my favorite holiday cookies, from the The Cookie Bible, by Publications International, Ltd. It's one of those cookbooks produced by big manufacturers like Kraft and Nestle, which tell you that you MUST use only their brands in all the recipes. But nonetheless, it is our cookie bible. This recipe has all the great flavor of gingerbread (my favorite) without all that fussing around with rolling, cutting, and decorating into an army of tiny men.
Jingle Jumbles - Easy Gingerbread Cookies
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 1/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/.2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 1/4 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or dried cherries (optional)
- granulated sugar
Cream butter and brown sugar together. Add molasses and egg and beat until smooth. Sift all other dry ingredients together (except raisins), and add slowly to the wet ingredients. Beat on medium speed until everything is mixed. Add raisins, if using. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375. Shape chilled dough into golf-ball sized balls and roll in granulated sugar (this is a great job for little kids). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are brown but middles are still soft. I recommend with eggnog and/or coffee.
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So tomorrow is the first day of my Total Immersion swim class at the Y. At 8:00 am. I'm not sure why that feels early for a Saturday, when I get up at 5 on weekdays, but.... anyway. I have zero desire to work out. I actually came close to just closing down this blog altogether and saying forget it. No more triathlete. No more baking. No more... no more. Did I mention I don't handle sick very well? It just seems like after my 5 weeks in crutches, immediately followed by a 3 week cold that I still have, and now this tummy bug on top of it that the world is conspiring to keep me from my goals. Crawling back under the electric blanket with the cat seems like a viable option.
But if I choose to do so, at least I have cookies to munch while I'm under there......
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