Let the Baking Begin!

What a surprise we had yesterday morning!  We woke up to find that it had s-n-o-w-e-d.  Less than an inch, but it was snow.  Thank goodness it didn't stick!  I know it's November, and it's the right time of year the for that.  I'm just never quite ready for winter and the inevitable snow and f-f-f-reezing temps that come along with it.


One of the things that I do love about this time of year is that it's baking season for me.  I tend not to bake nearly as much when it's hot in the summer  But when the temps cool off, I'm always ready to bake just about anything, especially for our family gatherings.  Besides, is there anybody who doesn't like their home smelling like a bakery?  My son came in the house the other day and wanted to know what I was baking.  When he thinks he smells something baking, in true "guy tradition," he's always ready to be first in line!  My oven was off and I wasn't baking a thing.  I had a candle burning, and it sure smells good!  It was one of Paula Deen's Cinnamon Pecan Swirl candles, and boy does it smell like the real thing.  If you haven't tried this one yet, I heartily recommend it.  Oh, and don't worry, my son didn't go empty-handed for very long.  I did bake up some cookies!



One of my brothers has a really big cookie fetish.  From as far back as I can remember I've called him Cookie Monster.  He joined us yesterday for Thanksgiving, so of course I baked a batch of cookies just for him.  Enough to fill a tin so he could bring them home.  This time I made Shortbread Cookies with giant Ghirardelli kisses.

I was so busy yesterday with all of the preparations, baking and cooking!  I was so busy in fact, that I didn't think to grab my camera so I barely have any pictures of the food at all.  I did manage to take a quick shot of one of the pans of dinner rolls I baked.  They've kind of developed their own reputation, and are pretty popular around here.  And they're big.  Really big.  You could use one of these babies for a hamburger bun.  The pan in this picture is a vintage one that used to belong to one of my neighbors when I was a kid.  She always kept an immaculate yard and garden, even into her late 80's.  And she did all of that work by herself (including the mowing!).  Oh, her flower beds were so amazing!  When she passed away her daughters held a sale, and I bought her muffin pans.  She used to make the most delicious muffins, and she'd share them with us too!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving.

Now.....let's all enter the "100 Ways to Be Creative with Leftover Turkey" zone!!