Holiday Cheer!

'Tis the season! The holidays are fun, exciting, and sometimes exhausting!

I'm no Grinch, but this holiday season has been marred by exhaustion: I've been sick, my boss has been hounding me for just-barely-possible projects, and I'm on the job market. I haven't been the most holiday-spirited, if you know what i mean.

I have tried to get involved in a few ways. I got holiday candy for our candy drawer at work. I've been dutifully eating one candy cane a day for the last week.

I hosted a holiday party a couple weekends ago. We made and decorated cookies...had some cider and snacks, and played holiday music.

While cookies aren't the healthiest, we did have some healthy snacks...

Cider

BBQ Tofu (in bowl), Salami, Smoked Turkey, Roast Beef, and Ham

Vegetables

 Crackers and cheese - brie, derby sage, and beemster.

Then, we rolled out three kinds of dough - shortbread, gingerbread, and sugar:

We decorated with a variety of colored frostings and tips:

We did an awesome job - the finished products:

Today I finished wrapping my presents for my family. We are going to spend Christmas with my family in northern Minnesota. I went a little overboard and my car is going to be filled with presents. I actually got the tape measure out to make sure the big present would fit in my backseat.

The fiance's arm is in there for scale and to cover the nametag. That package took five entire paper bags to wrap. I actually took the dimensions and calculated the number of bags I'd need to wrap it up. I got it just right - we used every last scrap!

Finally, I got some nog. I love the taste of eggnog, but it has a weird texture. I was very excited to find this at the store:

Not any thicker than soymilk. 90 calories. Tastes like eggnog. Win! I put it into my coffee and called it a day!

More holiday cheer coming soon. Have a great week!