Holiday Baking

With the holiday season right around the corner. Have you started to do any baking or planning?

I have actually just started baking and planning. I actually made candy yesterday for the 2nd time so that we could bring it to Savannah's Halloween potluck on Monday. I made pretzel hugs and pretzel turtles. So YUMMY!!! I think that the turtles turned out so, so, so good. I was also thinking about making some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for the moms to eat.

I am super excited about Thanksgiving this year. I am taking Savannah back to Ohio for Thanksgiving, and it will be my first with my family in almost 10 years! It seems like everyone in my family is a cook except for me, so I am hoping to pick up so really great tips and tricks. Also, Savannah is super into helping in the kitchen this year, so I think she will love all the cooking and prep. Plus, when my mom was here last week we didn't have a chance to sit down so she could show me how she makes her pumpkin pies. I am SURE we will have a chance to do that while I am back home.

Christmas will be here in Las Vegas, and Kevin will be off so I am sure he will want a say in the planning. I am again really excited about baking cookies with Savannah now that she's old enough to help me decorate them and make them. We usually have people over for Christmas Eve (friends) and Christmas Day (family) so it means 2 BIG meals in2 days. I am also hoping to reinstate our party with our old friends (Meg, Paul, Kara, Rick, maybe even Jeff) because Rick is now home from Iraq and will be here for a couple of weeks around Christmas.

For Christmas, I will also make my homemade peppermint park for Kevin to take to work. Everyone gobbled it up last year so quickly that Kevin even tried to make some more himself. I was also thinking about making some chocolate and pepperming dipping spoons for him to take to work. People might like using them to stir thir coffee with, and I have secretly been dying to try and make some.

My last holiday of the season is Savannah's birthday the 1st week of January. This year I am thinking about doing a Hawiian themed luau-type party, so I was thinking about getting so recipes for Hawiian food for the adults. I don't know how many of the kids will eat new things, so maybe Hawiian pizza for them.