So the cookie boxes have been dropped off at the post office and I should feel a great weight lifted, but I’m still stressing about will the contents be intact when they reach their destinations. Rach is getting an extra box with some nice boots she was keeping here when she used to come once a month, that wouldn’t fit in her suitcase back in October when she last came to Madison. Last night I had a huge mental debate over whether to tuck a double-freezer-bag-wrapped jar of homemade pumpkin butter in one of the boots. In the end I decided to put the pumpkin butter in the cookie box, but forgot to put it in after all. Disaster averted – maybe – because I was 3/4 of the way to the post office this morning and almost turned around, worried that the cookies I tucked in one of the boots, the fruit nut balls, might leak and be sticky in the boot.
The other boot has baby ruggelach – that should be safe. Although I’m afraid the baby ruggelach aren’t as good as usual this year. Towards the end of baking I was almost out of filling and kept scraping up and reusing the brown sugar, nuts, and spice mixture from my rolling surface. Which I always do, but I’m putting the scraped up back into a bowl with fresh filling and this time I didn’t have so much fresh, so I think the filling got extra flour mixed in, so not as tasty as usual. Although of course this could be my Covid-impaired taste talking, too.
My taste & smell do seem to be coming back – yesterday morning when I walked back into the house after I clumped down the driveway in my pajamas and snow boots to see if I could get the muddy rags I’d used when I scrubbed the basement floor drain into the trash (another sad story), I could smell both Pia’s bagel and my coffee. And I could smell my own sweat for the first time since Covid this morning while I was taping labels on boxes – sorry to anyone I may have offended during this time!
I’m thinking I should get out a baby ruggelach and let it come to room temp and see how it tastes. Yesterday when I was packing the boxes I did have to do quite a bit of quality control, but I was tasting lots of kinds, so the ruggelach probably deserves a better test. And the ones that are still here for the party are from later in the baking cycle so have that extra-flour filling.
Today I get the whole day with no other responsibility besides party food. Pia’s at school and then wil spend the night with her friend who had surgery yesterday. Mark’s in Chicago for a symphony. We thought maybe since I’m retired now I’d be able to go, having had more time for cookies and party but it didn’t work out like that. I did go last Friday to see Hilary Hahn, and that was fun. Publican Quality Meats sandwiches beforehand, and we learned it’s better to just go there and order and eat then pre-order. Next time.
Woulda been nicer to eat this mortadella & burrata off a plate than to-go wrap.
Here’s what I got for Jasper pictures. These are from the 6th and the 13th, my first two post-Covid granny daycare days. On the 6th – in the star suit – he actually had an ear infection, but was relatively happy when the Tylenol kicked in. He got antibiotics the next day. On the 13th, menorah suit, he helped me make orange ricotta chocolate chip muffins (using less ricotta because that’s all I had and a little less sugar), and turns out he really likes oranges but will share with the cat. He liked the muffins OK too. We emptied an egg box and I thought he might like to play with the box, but instead he got excited because eggs are his favorite food and I guess he knows what egg boxes are and got excited because he thought I’d cook some for him. That’s when I gave him the orange – and happiness.
For cookie pics, I am woefully behind.
Hermits
The chocolate toffee bars were kind of disaster – I used different chocolate and didn’t put parchment under the crust so kind of a lot delaminated. But I still had enough for the boxes and the party, and Mark and Pia, and me too, happily ate the delaminated ones
Another view of that container of chocolate toffee bar scraps, in the too-blue morning light. A.K.A. why I don’t have enough pictures this year – even though I’m retired I still seemed to mostly have finished cookies at night so no chance to get a beauty shot.
Peppermint patty brownies – also blue
Raspberry almond bars, much less blue, although the same morning
Pecan pie bars
After I dropped off the boxes, I stopped at the co-op and bought last minute party stuff. I thought I might check out Whole Foods in its new location that is now like a 40 minute walk from me instead of 25 or so but the co-op had everything I wanted so I skipped it. And most likely am using the extra time to write this post … tho I had to take a hiatus, running into picture upload problems. I’m pretty sure it’s related to my retired status and Photoshop license being through UW. Hopefully something I can fix in January.
PS and oh crap, I think it might be related to Portfolio Slideshow, a plugin I have used kind of a lot. I had to deactivate it to get this post to update and now in every post where I used it you just see the portfolio slideshow shortcode, no pics. Maybe that’s what I’ll be fixing in January.
Anyways I picked up a quart of Sassy Cow eggnog. I like eggnog but nobody else does so making it homemade doesn’t seem worth it – and yes, I have read lots of eggnog for one recipes. And in another cheat, discovered that I can make a quite decent eggnog latte with purchase eggnog and instant espresso powder and water.
I enjoyed the latte for breakfast with a couple of satsuma mandarins that looked a little too old & dried out to eat to Pia. Feel like I want a bit of something else, too, but I will be sampling hummus and dips and etc. as I get back to cooking. Which I should do Real Soon Now.
But first I’ll go get out that baby ruggelach.
**PS had it with coffee at about 3:00 (it had been coming up to room temp since noon) and … drumroll please … it was delicious. Its normal taste from years before.