Doubling Up

Somehow my Monday's always get away from me. I don't even have a good excuse because as of last Thursday my classes are OVER! Fantastic, fabulous feeling doesn't even begin to sum it up. But here I am catching up again, so go link up with Amber and Neely and join in the last week of the Holiday Blog Challenge. 

Day 6 {Holiday Recipe}

If nothing else, Sugar Cookies always mean the holidays are here to me. The years before my twin brothers were born and the first few after that, my Mom always hosted a party at our house. We would make TONS of dough and all my little friends and their moms would come over. We would eat more dough than we would make cookies, and by the second batch was out of the oven I'm sure the Moms were the ones frosting but boy did we have fun.

Here is a recipe I found on pintrest,and an awesome way to make simple candy canes. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp. peppermint or almond extract
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• Red food coloring 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for topping)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and powdered sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
3. Then add the egg and extracts.  Beat until smooth.
4. Add in salt and then stir in the flour, beating on low speed just until the flour is blended.
5. Divide the cookie dough in half.  Take one half of the dough and knead red food coloring into it until the dough is tinted red.
6. To assemble each cookie: Take one rounded teaspoon of red dough & one rounded teaspoon of white dough and roll each into a ball.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 4-inch long rope.   Place 1 red and 1 white rope side by side on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Press the 2 ropes together lightly, twist them together, and then curve the top of the cookie down to form the handle of a candy cane.
8. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes.  Immediately after taking them out of the oven, sprinkle the cookies with the granulated sugar.  Cool slightly on the pan, and then remove them from the cookie sheet to cool completely.
Yield: 4 dozen cookies


Courtesy of Christine's Cuisine 

Day 7 {How do you celebrate the holidays?}

Well we celebrate Christmas. I think we have posted something similar to this but we open a present the day before Christmas, and then take our time opening on Christmas morning. When we were young I think we could smell Christmas morning and were up and ready to open presents before the sun. We weren't allowed to open til at least 6am, and I learned how time worked one year when Dad said to wait until the first number was a 6. Of course I knew that the number 6 came after 5 but I learned that morning that a whole bunch of minutes happened before the first number would change from a 5 to a 6. Once it was 6am my parent's would wait in the living room and we would wait for the sign before we could run down the hall.

Christmas was amazing when we were younger, and while we've had some hard times the last few Winters all that matters is that the five of us are together. 

{The NSYNC Christmas CD was my first CD, we've played it during Christmas morning ever since}