Admittedly, this year I have not had the time to do nearly as much for the holidays as I had planned. However, I have a little more evidence that we have not been completely idle here at chez buzzville...
Baking has taken us by storm the past couple of days, starting with this incredible almond bundt cake that I had to make after reading about it on Abby's blog:
Night-time photos suck, but the cake didn't - very dense and "almond-y" - as a lover of marzipan and all other almond sweets, I just couldn't resist!
Next we went into cookie mode, and the first two recipes to get made are both thanks to Martha:
butter pecan cookies and anise drops (I couldn't find this recipe online, but it's from the December 2000 issue of Living. I'd be happy to email anyone who would like it!) Jerry has fond memories of the springerle that his grandmother used to make, but I don't have a springerle mold (yet!), so the anise drops were my substitution. Both came out really well, and I'd recommend both recipes.
Of course, we couldn't leave out Brynne's holiday crafting! This year, everyone is getting a dish towel, custom designed by Brynne:
I got this idea from Family Fun, and it would have been perfect had Brynne not started crying and hating the whole project about half way through... It's funny (or not so funny!) that she usually ends up unhappy with the projects I think she'll love.
Hopefully more to post tomorrow!
The cake looks lovely. The dish towels are such a great idea! Too bad she didn't have such a great time working on them, they look wonderful.
Posted by: Marie | December 22, 2005 at 01:47 PM
Mmmm, yummy cake and cookies! What a fab gift idea the dish towels are.
Posted by: Nichola | December 22, 2005 at 02:38 PM
I love the dishtowels! What a great idea, I might have to steal that for next Christmas kid's gift-making.
Posted by: Blair | December 22, 2005 at 06:19 PM
The bundt cake looks delicious!
Happy Christmas.
Posted by: Jane | December 23, 2005 at 10:39 AM