post bake-fest

we survived our first garvey bake fest. actually, now that i look at the little that we produced, i realize it's hardly a bake fest. our valiant efforts yielded only 24 decorated sugar cookies and 18 pfeffernusse cookies (aka pepper cookies). however, it was fun and definitely got me in the christmas spirit.



sorry the photo is poor quality and dark--cell phone! :)

some highlights:

1. at winco, kevin asks me to read off the list he made of spices we needed for his cookies. it says cardamom. i have never heard of that spice. i can't say that's surprising though, considering i can barely bake or cook. so...kevin picks out marjoram, assuming its the same spice. we decided that since we didn't know what cardamom was, it would be no big deal to leave it out of the recipe. the executive decision was fine (i guess) because kevin says his cookies still turned out tasty. the batter was a little on the sticky side--perhaps that's where the cardamom comes in?

2. all i ask kevin to do when making my sugar cookie batter is to soften the butter in the microwave. all the sudden, i hear a cuss word come pouring out of the sweet mouth of my husband! he starts yelling at monster, "no! no!" and "get out of here!". i decide to assess the damages--an entire bowl of melted butter splat on the floor. i could not stop laughing. i almost wet my pants. how perfect for us--it can never be easy, right!?! :) thank goodness we had enough butter to complete the rest of the recipes!

3. we get to use the old fashioned cookie tin for kevin's pfeffernusse cookies that kevin's grandmother gail gave to us for my wedding shower. it's really beautiful (you can see it on the left hand side of the photo)! we haven't gotten a chance to use it, so this is perfect. can't wait to show up with our goodies at christmas eve tomorrow!

4. conclusion: we need a hand-mixer. one day, i hope to get one of those fabulous kitchenaid standing mixers, but for now...a hand-mixer will work just fine. i've had my eye on a martha stewart one. waiting for a sale at macy's!!!

overall, the mixing, measuring, pouring, baking, whisking, scooping, pressing, cooking, waiting, cooling and icing all worked out. it was fun and just what we needed to get in the holiday spirit. too bad we both have to work tomorrow--ahh, such is life!

happy holidays everyone!