We put our Christmas tree up over the weekend and I am completely enamored.
Seriously.
As Amy posted a few days ago, my kids all have small trees they put up in their bedrooms with their own ornaments (yes, artificial – I’m really over that whole vacuuming-pine-needles-for-months thing =D). I’m not being a cool mom or anything by letting them have their own trees. It’s just that I like to decorate the big tree differently each year. See? Completely mercenary. So this year it’s all red and white and gold and I am in love. (sigh)
I put on some instrumental Christmas music and was just sitting and staring and drinking in the beauty. (Okay, so maybe the whole sitting and staring thing has more to do with my exhaustion level, but that’s not important right now. =D)
Can it get any better than this?
Well, actually it did.
The kids were baking while I was in my little I-love-my-Christmas-tree cocoon. And . . . this is the really great part . . . they wouldn’t even let me in the kitchen! (Shut. up. I know.)
So, in addition to my I’m-drunk-with-Christmas-beauty moment. The house smells like fresh cookies! I totally got a preview of what heaven will be like. I swear.
They baked my favorite Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, and even though I don’t like nuts and I really don’t like peanut butter, I could eat these all day long because they are amazing. And okay, I’m not really supposed to be eating chocolate, but c’mon!
Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter – softened
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg – slightly beaten
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 bags Hershey’s kisses
DIRECTIONS:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2) Cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; gradually stir into the peanut butter mixture.
3) Make small balls of dough. Really small. Like less than an inch in diameter.
4) Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the cookies look cracked.
5) While the cookies are baking, unwrap the number of kisses you need to match the number of cookies baking.
6) When the cookies come out of the oven, quickly push a kiss into the center of each.
7) Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.
8) The chocolate will melt completely when it comes in contact with the hot cookie, even though the kiss maintains its shape, but don’t worry, they will harden again when they’re completely cool.
However, it’s really important that you try at least one hot cookie with the melted chocolate. Just trust me on this. 😉
Meanwhile back to my idyllic I’m-so-in-love-with-my-Christmas-tree moment:
Kenny G on the stereo (don’t judge me). Plate of my favorite freshly baked cookies in front of me. Bustelo in my cup. My oh-so-incredibly-beautiful tree before me. Magical. 😉
"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall."
~ Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas
Everyday should be like Christmas. =)
Would your family like to join ours and decorate gingerbread houses Sunday afternoon? Just to keep those magical moments coming? Seriously I bought 20 houses at costco and I’m inviting our whole neighborhood over for the fun! We’d love your family to join ours.
I did the “royal” theme this year too! All gold and red and white with Angels and Cherubs and glittered crocheted stars I made. Gold bows, too and white garland with all colored lights. Our trees look very similar.Just beautiful, huh?
I’m so glad I made the effort for just myself. Even though I have it off the ground about a foot, the dog’s tail wagging makes me nervous around the tree. They haven’t wiped it out yet. It’s like they KNOW not to mess with MY tree. Except for the bow at the base, they got ahold of that during the night and ripped it off. I was able to remake and reuse it. (Big ribbon is expensive here)
Merry, Merry Christmas – Teri
I really love the tree. It’s especially gorgeous this year!;-)
Oye Martis, is that an artificial or a real tree? It’s got a beautiful line!
Teri-I peeked at your tree on your blog. It’s just beautiful with all the bows! Thanks for sharing.
Ventanita-
It’s artificial (blush, blush). We splurged a few years ago. I like my tree to be tall and it was always a pain to strap a giant tree to the top of the minivan. =D