I am very happy to report that I have (finally) had a successful cookie baking day. Late last night I produced another four dozen chocolate chip, followed this morning by four dozen snickerdoodles (more about these below), two dozen holly cookies and two-and-a-half dozen peanut butter blossoms (you know, the PB cookies with hersey kisses in them). Later tonight, energy level and Christmas tree status willing, I'll make some anise pizzelles and some chocolate pizzelles.


Regarding those snickerdoodles. I went out this afternoon briefly to pick up some needed baking supplied (cinnamon red hots, cake flour, molasses, etc.) and returned to find that my four dozen snickerdoodles had been reduced to 2 and a half dozen. Hmm...what happened? Well, I left the cookie burgler unsupervised, that's what. The boy wonder had been napping the entire time, so the blame was pretty easy to place. The confrontation went something like this:


Me: Sweetie, can you not eat so many of one kind of cookie at a time? I'm trying to make up assortments for gifts.


Cookie Burgler: I haven't had that many.


Me: Dearest, there's nearly two dozen snickerdoodles gone.


Cookie Burgler (all indignant): I have not eaten that many cookies.


Me (leading him to the cooling rack): There were four dozen here when I left. There are now slightly over two dozen and you were the only one here to eat them.


Cookie Burgler: Oh. Sorry.


Tomorrow, if all goes well I'll make cut outs (two kinds), chocolate crinkles and gingerbread angels - I don't have a gingerbread man cookie cutter (how is this possible? I have hundreds of cookie cutters, it's true, but no gingerbread man.)

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It seems somehow strange to note in a blog called Hot Water Bath that I've put my canning kettle away for a bit. Because I prefer to can in season, there's not much that can be done right now where I live. Sure, I could make more chocolate sauce, but how much does one house really need? Now that gardeniera and cranberry chutney are done, I'd rather focus my attention to other, holiday-related culinary pursuits. I am planning, though, one last pre-baby canning spree of marmalade. I think that it will be a good thing to have around as we approach Easter (what? Easter already? are you out of your ever-lovin' mind? - marsha's subconscious) for cookies and cakes and such. Since I'm unlikely to really want to do it after the baby's here, I figure the post-Christmas lull is an excellent time. Other than that, I think we may be canning-free until late spring.


Speaking of lulls, we've hit one in the great Christmas cookie plan. Although I did make snickerdoodle dough yesterday I didn't actually get to bake it. In addition to the two-day hiatus caused by the need to get staples placed into my son's head, I've had a spectacular failure in the process of making tea cakes that I'm still in the process of cleaning up. I attribute this to one, some or all of the following:
1. my oven temperature is both uneven and unstable and requires constant fiddling to keep it at a sort-of correct temperature for any given recipe (for cooking, this isn't a problem but for baking it's another matter entirely)
2. I didn't follow the recipe correctly
3. the recipe is crap (Actually, this is one of Rose's recipes from the Rose's Christmas Cookies discussed a few days ago. In the series of Amazon reviews for the book two separate reviewers noted problems with this recipe so, to be fair, I may have somehow influenced it to fail because I expected it to fail, know what I mean?)
4. tea cakes are a pain under the best of circumstances and I've been sort of distracted lately anyway
5. my butter was too soft


I should finish the clean up today and will commence with the snickerdoodles. Plus, it's taken me so long to get moving with this business that the chocolate chip cookies are almost gone, so I'll make more of those as well. Then I should be back on track. Of course, this depends on today's wakefullness quotient. It's now nearly 4:30 a.m. and I've been away since 1:30. At some point I'm going to have to go back to bed and try to catch some Zs so I can be somewhat approaching functional today. It helps that I've used this time to get some of the day's actual pay-the-bills work done so I won't be quite so behind once the business day starts.


Finally, if you think of it, please send exam-success-and-confidence vibes to my husband. He has a major, change-the-course-of-your-life exam today and we're both just out of our minds about it. He knows the material, he just needs to know he knows it.

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Many thanks for all the good wishes for my son. We're pretty much back to normal now - he's in school today and proudly showing off where the doctor fixed the "hole" in his head. I gingerly washed his hair this morning and he scarcely flinched, so it seems that he's recovering better than I.


From what I can understand, the injury was the result of normal playground roughhousing. The school as responded beautifully, holding an "assembly" of the 3- and 4-year olds letting them know that my son was going to be o.k. and that his parents and doctors were taking care of him. They then led a discussion of playground safety and rules, talking about how the playground is for fun and, if everyone follows the rules, then accidents like this don't need to happen. Apparently, many of the kids were understandably scared and crying, after seeing the blood and tears and then the arrival of the rescue squad. By the time we returned to school this morning, everyone was fine and happily showing off their own scars and owies.


So I'm back to my routine of avoiding work and bemoaning the state of the house. I made up a comprehensive to-do list this morning and am proud to report that I've already (already? it's nearly 10:30 for goodness sake!) crossed a couple things off. I really, really need to get myself together and have vowed to shake off this malaise. I owe it to myself, my family, and my employer to get my game back. And we start today with a technique I use successfully with my son. Mary Poppins called it a spoon full of sugar, but I prefer the more straightforward "bribery".


First up after blogging, a quick audit write-up followed by two necessary phone calls. As a reward, I'll then mix up some snickerdoodle dough. After this afternoon's conference call and a longer audit, I'll get to actually bake the cookies.


Oh man, I'm treating myself like a three year old. Without the nap, that is (although, come to think of it, not a bad idea).

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This morning, just after posting my Christmas cookie status, I got a call that threatened to stop my heart. The call that every parent dreads. There's been an accident, the ambulance is on the way. Blood, ooze, crying baby.


I swear I flew out of the house - if it hadn't been for every red light along the way (my guardian angel trying to keep up?) I probably would have hit 100 m.p.h. getting to the school to be able to be in the emergency van as it pulled away. Despite keeping to a more legal (and safe) speed limit, I did make it and was able to accompany my little boy to Martha Jefferson Hospital. By the time we got there, he was feeling more alert and, helped along by the little stuffed dog the rescue crew gave him, started talking a bit and regained some color, losing the palid gray that frightened me terribly during the ride.


The upshot: a switch of hospitals (to the UVA Medical Center which has a pediatric ER), three staples, three nurses, two triage desks, four nursing students, two residents, one pediatric supervising surgeon, and eight hours later, my boy is home and resting comfortably. I am one wound up, tired, wired, slightly scarred mama.


But my baby will be fine. Thank God.

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The end of the long Thanksgiving weekend finds me overwhelmed by work (what better way to avoid it than by blogging?) and wondering how fast I can get myself back into the kitchen to continue baking. I am sort of behind the eight-ball work-wise and my reaction to it is puzzling me. I never used to be the kind of person who would avoid a deadline - time was I was a take-a-deep-breath-and-jump kind of girl and there wasn't a to-do list east of the Mississippi that I couldn't tame. Now, I just want to take a nap or maybe even clean out my sock drawer. Or, even more fun, make some Christmas cookies.


I did end up making chocolate chip and thumbprints, but never quite got around to the tea cakes. Hopefully I'll get these done today. Growing up all of our cookie baking was done out of Betty Crocker's Cooky Book. These days I'm baking from Rose Levy Berenbaum's modern day classic Rose's Christmas Cookies which, although beautiful and well-written is not as comprehensive as I would have liked. Had Rose consulted me, there would be chocolate crinkle and pizelle recipes, as well as snickerdoodles and cut outs (all of which are present in the Betty Crocker book). Also, I think I would have left out the gingerbread Notre Dame. I mean, it's gorgeous and all, but who needs the pressure? Still and all, it's a wonderful resource and I recommend it to anyone who lives with a cookie monster (as I do, along with a cookie monster-in-training).


I haven't yet made up a comprehensive list of cookie baking goals yet, but here's the start of one:

• chocolate chip
• thumbprint
• tea cakes
• chocolate crinkles
• holly cookies
• gingerbread people
• snickerdoodles
• pizelles
• sugar cut outs
• shortbread


Now, anyone free to come help with the dishes?

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