In case you haven’t noticed, summer’s over. It’s December. Dreaded, dreaded winter is upon us. Remember that Greenday song “Wake me up when September ends?” Well, you can go ahead and wake me up when it’s above 50 degrees consistently and there is a 0% chance of that feared four-letter word starting with S ending in W and having a screaming NO in the middle. I also think being a weatherman is the biggest crock of bananas out there. What other job can you get paid to be wrong all the time but cause insane panic in people? I mean, I guess consulting. But that’s besides the point. I felt like last week the weathermen were just trying to eff with people. IT’S THE BUSIEST TRAVEL DAY OF THE YEAR AND IT’S THAT TIME OF THE MONTH FOR MOTHER NATURE AND OH IS SHE GONNA DUMP RAIN SLEET SNOW AND DEATH UPON YOU. You know what? It rained. It rained and then kind of snowed a little bit in places that know how to handle a little bit of snow in November. I think in the future there is a real opportunity for personalized weather reports based on your personality and lifestyle. For example, for myself, the neurotic anxious frequent business traveler who feeds into all weather hype I would prefer “Hey Rebecca, you have wicked travel anxiety and get on a plane twice a week? Okay, no hype for you, let me give you some forecast options based on real science and weather data.” That’s a weather reporting system I can get behind that won’t require a Xanax prescription.

Anyways, I digress. Last week was Thanksgiving which meant no airplanes – just two train rides to get to Philly for work and back to Connecticut for Thanksgiving with the fam. My mom mailed out my cookies for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap on Monday for me, which was helpful because this whole getting on an airplane at 7am on Mondays makes it hard to get cookies to people who need to eat them. I’ll be able to post that recipe in two weeks, so be on the lookout for that. I feel like December should be dedicated to holiday cookie baking. I am a big fan of all things gingerbread flavored. And I had a bag of holiday mini-M&Ms. And because I was suffering from a wicked case of Sunday scaries last night, I needed to make a cookie that was simple and delicious. I also didn’t want to take them on the plane this morning (a little boarding zone 5 anxiety) so I wrapped them up nicely and left them for my cleaning guy this week as a holiday treat. Hopefully he likes them, because I got some flack at work this week for showing up empty-cookie-handed. If you’re looking for an easy, flavorful and delicious holiday cookie, definitely add these to your list this holiday season.

Ingredients:

• 10 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons molasses
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups mini M&M candies

Step 1: Cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Slowly mix in the molasses and vanilla extract and mix on a medium speed until incorporated.

Step 2: Add in the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, baking powder and baking soda. Mix on a low speed, stopping to scrape the side of the bowl down.

Step 3: Add in the mini-M&Ms on a low speed until evenly distributed, but don’t overmix and crush them. Chill the dough for at least an hour before baking.

Step 4: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a sil-pat or parchment-lined baking sheet, use a medium cookie scoop to place even-size balls of dough at least an inch apart. Press down lightly with your fingertips to flatten slightly. If you want these to look really good, place a few extra M&Ms on top of the cookie. That helps them photograph well.

Step 5: Bake at 350 degrees for about 11-13 minutes, until lightly firm. It’s hard to tell when these are done because of the color, but when they are finished leave them on the cookie sheet for a few minutes on top of the oven to set before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

Oh yeah, these are Christmas in a cookie. If you lack patience, like me, I think these are a good alternative to an actual gingerbread man. You get the crunch of the M&Ms with the delicious ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves flavor of a gingerbread cookie. Although, you won’t be able to shout “NOT MY GUMDROP BUTTONS” like I assume pretty much everyone does when they take a bite out of a real gingerbread man. No? Just me? Okay, moving on.

 

So I think I’m going to need to change my cadence of blog posts. With airplane Monday mornings, the Sunday scaries are more severe so I am not in the blogging mood late Sunday nights anymore since I need to pack for the week. Maybe I’ll bake earlier in the weekend so I can also get the baked goods to some other people to eat. #cookiebloggerprobz

It’s late, and I’m in Philly, so I’m going to give you a mostly photo-recap of the past week and all the Thanksgiving goodness.

As much as I hate on Connecticut, it is always nice to go home for the holidays. I felt like I was in college again when my parents picked me up from the train station in New Haven on Tuesday night. And I ate a Duchess chicken sandwich in the back of the car like I was competing on the Hunger Games. Not much has changed since college.

This was the beginning of our Thanksgiving table. The sausage stuffing is my number one favorite staple. I’ve introduced brussel sprouts into the veggie holiday routine which are welcomed with wide arms by some and despised by others.

My job at the holidays is probably the most important. I am in charge of picking up/dropping off Grandpa who lives a town over. Good thing he has me as a chauffeur because we were in turkey food comas after dinner.

I came back to Boston early on Friday morning because I feel like I had been gone for along time and needed to get some decorating and organizing done. I am throwing my annual holiday party this weekend which means lots of over-planning and excel spreadsheets. Because that’s how I party. I decorated my fake tree which I was not thrilled about originally because I love a fresh tree, but I have too much going on this month to take care of a real tree. But for $30, this 6-foot pre-lit tree from Target took all the stress out of transporting a tree home from Home Depot. I kept with my BC maroon and gold theme this year.

Friday night Colleen and I had a date night at the movies to see The Hunger Games. The assigned seating at the Assembly Row movie theater is perfect for people like me who have anxiety over getting good seats. I also realize I have mentioned anxiety at least 5 times so far, which is giving me anxiety that you will now think I have wicked anxietySaturday night we tore up the dance floor at Lucky’s (which doesn’t exist, until we get there of course). Which meant Sunday was a bit of a struggle. But I did get through 54 holiday cards. I invested in some hilarious ones this year, so if you’re on my list you’re in for some laughs. That’s it for this week. I’m also thinking of starting to incorporate some non-cookie recipes, so if that’s something you’re interested in let me know. I have some really good go-to party appetizers that will likely debut on the blog soon. Maybe I will even share my neurotic excel party-planning spreadsheets. My secret sauce.