Cookbook Project, Books #137 and 138

"Holiday Cookies and Candies," Pillsbury

One of my traditions is baking for the winter holidays. It's at least half self-indulgent; I love baking, so this is just an excuse to indulge in one of my favorite hobbies. I almost feel guilty giving cookies for holiday gifts, since I'm fairly certain I have more fun making them than the recipients do eating them, and it's mostly just a way to have all the happiness of baking without having to eat all of the end results myself - a situation that would leave me queasy and huge.

The end result, though, is that I have more cookie cookbooks than any sane person has a right to. Some hand-me-downs, some I bought myself, some gifts from my mom, who knows that the yearly magazines and booklets make good stocking stuffers. This year, though, I didn't buy any new ones, figuring that I had more than enough to pick and choose from for my holiday gift platters.

This booklet is one that was a gift from my mom more years ago than I can remember, and it's been a source of at least a few of my staples. I try not to repeat recipes too often, but the Chocolate Pixies in here are a favorite of mine, and it makes a huge batch that leaves a few leftovers for us to nibble on at home, so I wound up making them.

They're fascinating little cookies - crispy on the outside, kind of airy and chewy on the inside, and sweet enough that it only takes one or two to feel like a treat. Plus, they're nice and simple and make a good contrast to some of the more esoteric and complicated cookies I love to make. And they'll likely be a staple on my holiday plates for a long time.



"Holiday Cookies," Land O Lakes Recipe Collection

This is another glossy booklet - for holiday cookies I actually like these, since they have pictures of the cookies. Part of my choosing process for holiday platters, in addition to tastes that balance and fun of making, is what will look good together on a plate and will stand up to transportation, so being able to see them helps a lot. Or so I tell myself.

This one, anyway, was a hand-me-down from umbran's mother a year or two ago, and I haven't used it yet, mostly because I had enough other sources. Looking through it, there were at least a few recipes that caught my eye, though most of the offerings were just variants of sugar cookies. Next year I may try a couple of the others, but this time I just wound up making Maple Pecan Shortbread.

It was amazing. Admittedly, it includes three of my favorite things (maple, pecans, and, well, shortbread), so it would have been hard to make it unpleasant. It wasn't the best choice for a holiday plate, in retrospect, though. It only made a small batch, and they didn't store too well - they were tender and chewy and would have gone stale way too fast. But I'm still glad I made them, and I'm looking forward to using the book again in the future....

Arisia Was.

So. That about sums it up, actually.

Okay, that's exaggerating. But not by much. There was a con. It wasn't bad; it wasn't great. Most of this was because I was stressed and anxious about non-con-related stuff, leaving me predisposed to anxiety and social issues beforehand, but the end result was that, while I mostly avoided spectacular meltdowns and panic attacks, at any given point in time I was expending at least some effort to stay that way.

On the other hand, in spite of that I managed to have a mostly-good time. The panels I was on were interesting, and I managed to make at least a couple of good points on each of them. I got to dress up in fun costumes, leading to my favorite moment of the weekend (walking down the hallway dressed up as Poison Ivy, and almost walking into Harley Quinn and the Joker as Batman approached from the other end of the hallway. Spontaneous awesome roleplay and photo session ensued.). I got to spend at least some time chatting with folks I don't get to see too often, and danced with several of my favorite partners.

I even splurged and bought myself a couple of completely frivolous items, which I don't do too often - a miniature top hat decorated with peach ribbons and beads and feathers, and an utterly gorgeous silk scarf for middle eastern dance. I'm hoping to start getting back into middle eastern dance soon; one of the more surreal moments of the con for me was watching the Belly Dance Show and realizing that, for at least one of the performances, I could do that. I still tend to think of myself as a rank beginner, not good enough to even join a jam session, but... apparently I know more than I think I do.

I will be glad when the con moves, though - much of the stress that happened external to my own brain was due to being in a small, crowded space with a large number of people with variable social skills and little to no easily accessible good, hot food. And ultimately, for all the rough spots, there was fun. And there were cool people who kept me company and gave me nice surprises. And that should be enough for any weekend.