cabin fever.

an update to come on our new year's cabin vacation in the adirondacks. pictured above are some of the many whisky and ginger ales (with icicles as ice!) we consumed.

but also, the year closed out with:

• christmas eve dinner with casey's entire family in a restaurant only to be followed by christmas day festivities with even more family and then christmas part 3.  what? 
• a trip to the genesee brewery for genny cream ales and other beer snacks. (and many more beers.)
• bowling (poorly) and greasy fries. 
• a surprising amount of italian food.
• loads of coffee (some from pods). 
• vegetarian chili from casey's mama.
• cheez-its and potato chips and trail mix and hard-boiled eggs and a million random things on the road.

i don't know what i ate for the last two weeks. i'll get on that cabin update. 

that mariah carey christmas song is still stuck in my head.

so, this year, i baked christmas cookies for the neighbors (the one who my dog has a HUGE crush on, the one who loans me sugar, the one who rakes my yard, and the one who lets me use his internet) and the mail man (who chloe relentlessly barks at, fulfilling a stereotype).

given that i didn't grow up with christmas, i also don't have an arsenal of christmas cookie recipes. but i was ready to cook the cover of the december 2012 bon appetit. it also allowed alex and i to take a trip to southern season for fancy sprinkles and taste the bounty of the shop.

some notes on the recipe:

• i left out nutmeg because i didn't have any, but added in all-spice instead.
• this is a 3-step cookie which means you should plan ahead. do one step each day and it's not a big deal at all. each part is about 30 minutes.
• dusting sugar is stupid expensive, so i rolled the dough in non-pareils and raw cane sugar. 
• it said it would make 90, but mine made 70 and they aren't huge. this is totally fine, but if you are cooking for a big group, i'd make extra.
• i made half the amount of icing and had plenty. 
• they smush a little (the icing) when you bag them up so if you are giving them as gifts, be careful if you want them to look just so. they would be amazing at a party as they'd make even an ugly dish look delicious.