Heather's Eatery

Sometimes it is necessary to put all things on hold.  Forget the dusting and vacuuming--ignore the last bit of Christmas shopping to be done.  Baking was my top priority this weekend.  Even Jesse decided it was best to spend much of his day holed up in the office/guestroom while I took vacancy in the kitchen. 

There's something innately satisfying about perusing the "Flour/Sugar" aisle at the grocery store.  Did you know there are five brands of flour, but only three brands of sugar sold at Harris Teeter?  Well, now you know.

The Checker looked at my cart and began scanning the fifteen pounds of flour followed by the fifteen pounds of sugar.  It wasn't until she'd scanned the five pounds of butter and six bags of chocolate chips that she asked, "Are you baking?"  Why yes, yes, I am.

Creating order out of chaos is lovely.  Mix a little bit of this, and stir in a pinch of that, and whuallah, you have a batch of cookies!   

I've learned through the years that when there is much to bake, one must delve into it with no holding back.  Saturday morning came, and by 6:30, the oven was calling my name, and the ingredients snickered as they watched me gather them up with  a yawn.  To save time and effort, I brought it all out.  One whole section of the counter was dutifully dedicated to holding my supplies.  One big happy family.

Want to know what I baked?  No?  Too bad...

3 loaves of pumpkin bread
2 batches of molasses cookies
1 batch of shortbread
3 batches of sugar cookies (to be frosted tomorrow)
English Toffee
Grapefruit Peel Candies
Peanut Butter Balls

Twelve hours of baking later, and I have scads of goodies!  I could set up a little stand out front and call it Heather's Eatery.  Let's just say, I got into it this year. 

Christmas time is full of traditions, and I'm all about keeping them up.  But sometimes Heather's Eatery needs to have some surprises...which is why I added into my normal mix of holiday treats the Grapefruit Peel Candies.  Oh my goodness, are they AMAZING.  They turn into gooey, sugary, goodness.  My Christmas party isn't until Friday night, so they have yet to be rolled in sugar and dipped in chocolate, but they're quite scrumptious as they are.  Yumm!

Clearly, I could keep talking about all of the fun I had in my kitchen this weekend, but my pillow is calling my name.  If you're in the need of some sugary pick-me-ups, I'm just a flight away!!!

Rolling pins always remind me of a my mom with her pink apron on. 

The key to good baking?  Lots of love and very little measuring!