Almost Done (in)

I'm almost done now but for sure, I am very much "done in."

I didn't even have a chance to find enough time to post anything yesterday - Saturday, December 23rd!

I got up around 9:30 but felt really crappy - not sick, just so tired. So, instead of staying up then, I went back to bed. And, I didn't get up then till after noon!

But then, I spent almost every bit of the day and night in the kitchen. Baking cookies, making stuffing for the turkey. I think I got three breaks where I sat down for a few minutes between 1:30 and 10:30 at night! I got to sit down for about 15-20 minutes - had to - because I had to feed the baby. Got Maya some leftover macaroni and cheese - my lucky day - because she was having a minor fit, telling me she wanted mac-che - her word for what is probably her favorite food. She had that, some cookies and then was perfectly content to stay in her high chair with her big "Bratz" coloring book and a couple crayons and she "colored" for close to 90 minutes! All time that I didn't have to keep tabs on where she was, what she was doing, how much of a mess she was making, or what she might be in the midst of trying to destroy too!

I baked gingersnaps, snickerdoodles, two types of a chocolate cookie called "Fudge ecstasies" and if you like chocolate, that is what these are, for sure! I like them for the taste but also because they are actually easy to make too! And then I made two types of tartlet cookies - 1/2 with a cranberry/nut filling and the other half with a lemon-coconut filling. THey are a pain in the behind to make cause you have to roll the dough into these little balls and then smoosh the dough against the bottom and up the sides of these tiny muffin-like pans after which you drop a blob of the filling in there and bake them. They take the longest time to bake too - 25-30 minutes per pan! So just baking those, considering I made 10 dozen of the damned things, took me almost 4 hours to get them all baked!

Stuffing is done now - in the fridge, ready to go into the oven; the turkey is slow-roasting as I type this too. First thing I have to make for today will be a pan of a Swedish baked custard - called "panakaka" - just wish I had some lingonberries to serve with it. This is not a difficult dish to prepare and it's become a tradition that my kids have come to expect I will make it for any big family dinner or occasion and especially so, for Christmas. I have a big round of Bondost cheese in the refrigerator that has been so enticing for me since I bought it about two weeks ago at the local grocery store. I love this stuff but I made up my mind I was not cutting it until after church services at 9 p.m. tonight!

And, I managed to get the few Christmas Presents I had for the kids and grandkids all wrapped too.

All I need now is some sleep - sweet, glorious sleep! Please, don't let those darned shingles wake me up early in the morning!

I'm off now - going to bed and who knows, maybe I'll sleep right through Christmas!

Nah - never happen!