I spent a lot of this month minding my own business because I didn’t want to get sick before my Christmas trip (!), but I did do a couple of fun things before my self-imposed isolation:

  • First though, I made a care package for a friend and pulled some deep cuts from the archives: Carrot Ginger Soup, Rosemary Olive Oil Rolls, and Whole Wheat Banana Bread from Cookie & Kate. Sometimes when I don’t know what else to do, putting my love and energy into cooking up a nourishing meal makes me feel productive, and I know my loved one will get something tasty to eat.
  • My friend Jess and I resurrected our work Cookie Exchange after a three year hiatus. Since I knew I wasn’t going to be doing much baking for the holidays because I’d be away, I decided to go big: Pretzel Linzers with Salted Caramel. It took me a whole weekend, but they are so delicious, and so pretty that I didn’t mind.
  • My brother Chris celebrated a big birthday this month, so I ordered him a box of Letterbox Doughnuts. They were a HUGE hit for the whole house!
  • This is random, but I re-connected with an old co-worker this month, and we chatted on the phone for about two hours catching up. One of the restaurants in our old, pre-pandemic rotation was Bannock, where we’d always order Turkey Burgers. I haven’t been there since 2019, but decided to get a Turkey Burger delivered to the office one day for a treat. I’m sad to say that it wasn’t as good as I remember, and some of the toppings have changed. (But they did re-name the restaurant Sap, which I support).
  • Jess is in a choir, and had a few Christmas concerts this month, which I was so excited to attend. My friend Kelly drove us up to North York to see one, and as a thank you, I made her some cookies. Kelly is gluten free and dairy free, so I pulled out my old Oh She Glows cookbooks, which I honestly haven’t cracked open in YEARS. I made her GF/DF Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies and they blew me away; SO chewy, rich and decadent. She loved them.
  • As mentioned in my two posts last week, I had the teeny-est, tiny-est Christmas party this month with Jen & Krishna. I was excited to cook savoury snacks for a change, after 10 years of Champagne & Cookies. First I mixed up Pomegranate Cosmos and Margaritas for us, then we had Popcorn Party Mix, Caramelized Onion Dip, Bacon Wrapped Dates, Coconut Shrimp (I did not make this) and Butternut Squash & Ricotta Crostini. Everything was good, and I had lots of leftovers to snack on.
  • After more than 50 years, my beloved Herridge’s market has permanently closed. I was simply bereft when my Mom told me. Almost every dessert with fresh summer fruit, and certainly every batch of pickles I’ve ever made, has been with produce from Herridge’s *tear* I’m not quite sure what I’ll do with myself in the Spring, which is when they would re-open every season, and I would start sniffing around for rhubarb.
  • Here’s my recipe round-up for the month:
  • Stuff I made from the archives: Brown Sugar & Chili-Rubbed Salmon, Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burrito Bowls, Kung Pao Chicken Lettuce Wraps, My Favourite Waffles, Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
  • Some of my favourite go-to dishes: everything was from the archives!
  • New things that I tried and liked: didn’t try anything new this month!
  • Recipes from Smitten Kitchen Keepers (listing them here instead of blogging about them all separately): Slumped Parmesan Frittata
  • Homemade Snacks: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bites

Other non-foodie things I was obsessed with this month:

  • Obviously Kristine and I obsessively watched the Harry & Meghan documentary on Netflix, and had lengthy debrief calls after both batches of episodes dropped. Stand-out moment: learning Haz is in the BeyHive after jokingly gasping when Meghan gets a text from Beyonce!
  • My parents and I went away for a sunny, hot Christmas (and my Mom’s birthday) in Punta Cana! What a thrill to escape the snow and spend a week lying on the beach/by the pool, drinking frosty bevs and reading a stack of books. Here’s what I picked for my beach reads: Carrie Soto is Back, A Merry Little Meet Cute, The Paris Apartment and Lessons in Chemistry. All were perfect beachy reads, but Lessons in Chemistry ended up being one of my faves of the entire year!
  • I’m not sure why I was hesitant to watch Wednesday, because it was right up my alley: mega Beetlejuice/Riverdale/Harry Potter/Buffy vibes. So obsessed with it and can’t wait for Season 2.

Flashback!