everything and the kitchen sink

oh yeah, we got engaged

2011-12-29T15:56:00.001-07:00

i kind of forgot to post about this. in all of the excitement of the proposal itself and then the ensuing holiday season, i guess blogging slipped my mind. but here we are, more than a month after the engagement. better late than never.
let me start by stating: this proposal was completely unexpected and came as a total surprise. this was not something mr. z and i talked much about. i mean, we both knew the other wasn't going anywhere. but marriage was not on the list of things we regularly discuss. (things that do exist on the list: can we get another puppy? what do you want for dinner? when do we get to move to the beach?) we have literally never had a discussion about proposals or weddings or rings or anything of the sort. so when i found myself on the receiving end of the "will you marry me" proposition, i was more than a little taken aback. but in the happiest way possible.
mr. z and i had gone to florida to visit family for thanksgiving. while planning the trip, we decided that we would take one night while in florida and stay in a little town called seaside. we booked a room at this gorgeous resort and made a reservation for dinner at one of the hotel's restaurants. when we arrived in seaside, we immediately fell in love with the town. we spent most of the afternoon on the beach and took our time getting ready for dinner. we still had some time to blow before our reservation so we headed down to the bar for a cocktail. (this should surprise no one. you've met us, right?) we took our drinks outside and mr. z suggested we walk down to the beach. it was a bit dark (clouds had moved in later in the day so there was not much in the way of moonlight) but still beautiful so we strolled down to the water. we took a seat to watch the waves and chat. we probably spent a good 15/20 minutes doing much of the same. until my phone rang. it was my dentist. reminding me of an appointment that i had upon our return to utah. for some [rookies] this could have destroyed the mood. but mr. z used this to his advantage. when my phone lit up to alert me that said dentist had left a voicemail, mr. z coyly asked "can you shine that over here? i think i ripped my jacket." [i told you, it was dark] as i brought my phone toward him, i caught a glimpse of mr. z pulling something small and square out of the breast pocket of his jacket. he stood up, said some insanely sweet things that i can't really remember at all, (adrenaline is a needy bitch) i immediately transformed into a total sap and started crying. he then got down on a knee and asked if i would be his wife. my response went something like this: "yesimeanwhat?youwanttomarryme?yesiwanttomarryyoubutohmygodwhat?howwhenwhat?didyoucallmydad?" errr...something like that. the rest of the night is a champagne induced blur of dinner/phone calls/texts/watching infomercials for forever lazy at 3:00 am because neither of us could sleep. i do remember one thing acutely; i had never been happier.

mr. z you have been a gift. i love you.

uncle mr. z

2011-12-29T13:45:00.001-07:00

mr. z is finally an uncle. his brother and sister in-law created this perfect little peanut. miss baby z arrived just 2 weeks ago and we were able to sneak away to los angeles for the holiday to meet her. she is just as precious as we imagined her to be and we loved her instantly and wholeheartedly. we just returned the night before last and already we miss her terribly. mr. z and his whole family seem to be overjoyed by this little bundle of cute....i mean how could you not be? but since she is the first grandchild on mr. z's side of the family, it was impossibly sweet to see them welcome her into their lives with such genuine bliss and adoration.

here is baby z wearing the hat that i made for her. i know i made it, but it does happen to look awfully cute on her. not that she'd look anything less than EDIBLE, regardless of what she had on her head.

we can't wait to see this little face again soon! xoxo baby girl!

snow day

2011-11-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

the dogs could not be happier about the snow. they search out the deeper patches and happily roll around in it. they stand by the door all day just waiting for someone to let them out to frolic. i do not share their enthusiasm; this should come as no surprise. in fact my soul feels about as cold as the icicles on the trees but the dogs are so bonkers for the snow, i can't but smile in these [frigid] moments. i promise that i'll stop complaining soon.*

*do not believe this

life in the mountains

2011-10-25T10:47:00.002-06:00

we had some early snow again this year. the white mountaintops against the gorgeous colors of fall amaze me each year. i was NOT happy with the temperature plummeting 30 degrees inside of a few days, but it was so dang pretty, i let go of the bitterness harboring in the depths of my soul and just enjoyed it.

*photo courtesy of jacek rolnik. thank you for playing photog. oh and ps: move here.

a dog and his ball

2011-10-24T10:34:00.000-06:00

enjoying the last little bit of fall before the cold weather really moves in this week. it might be a while before the two of us our lounging in the park again. sigh.

so about those free golf lessons

2011-09-08T10:29:00.000-06:00

mr. z's hard work has paid off. i made my first par yesterday. as in, i've never made par on a single hole. on any course. mr. z had his work cut out.

as this picture clearly shows, i was *very* proud of myself. this was my shot off the tee box so i could have made birdie if i could actually putt.

may thy ball lie in green pastures....and not in still waters

2011-08-31T10:03:00.000-06:00

mr. z recently played in the utah open. i was able to attend one of the days and walk the course with him. this was the first time i'd watched him play in a tournament and i really enjoyed it. i was a bit uneasy about dealing with the beating sun and the rising temperature (it was right around 100) for 5 hours, but i still thoroughly enjoyed watching mr. z on the course. at least i was able to find shade at each hole. mr. z and the other guys looked like they were melting. mr. z is an impressive golfer and i loved watching him in his element. i don't get to see him play like this often. usually when mr. z and i play, he spends more time helping/teaching me. my own personal golf pro, i'm one lucky girl.
(for many reasons, not just because of the free golf lessons.)

date night

2011-08-15T15:21:00.002-06:00

addicted

2011-08-11T11:42:00.006-06:00

to polyvore, that is. scary how much time i could spend putting outfits together. if you have ~~all day~~ a minute to spare, go play!

utah: explained

2011-08-05T13:23:00.000-06:00

i've been in utah for almost 4 years. which is pretty hard to believe, actually. time flashes by faster than i'd like. there are days when i miss home so badly; the pain is tangible. there are days that i'm so thankful that i live here and that i decided to stay here, when staying here seemed like the worst idea possibly ever. days when i wouldn't want to be anywhere on earth but park city, utah. but i can't lie. there are days when i hate it here. days when i think i won't be able to get out of bed if i wake up to another morning of snow. i was a die-hard skier when i moved here 4 years ago. snow in november made me giddy. but now, thoughts of 7 month long winters send me into a tailspin of depression. my love for skiing hasn't changed, per se. it's just that my priorities have changed. so the winters don't hold as much appeal for me anymore. it's the summers that make those long winters worth the wait. there's a saying in park city: "you move here for the winters, but you stay for the summers". it's said often, perhaps to the point of cliche. but it can't be helped, it's the truth. park city is known for the epic winters, but most of us locals live for the summers.
they're just too damn short.

my friend kelly and i recently rode our bicycles to a free outdoor concert. on the way there, we stopped to spend some time with the beautiful horses at a nearby ranch.

those greeks get me every time

2011-08-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

as some of you may know, mr z is greek. not some halfsy italian mutt like me. he is all greek. i mean, after his parents divorced, they both remarried DIFFERENT greek people. that's how the greeks do. well, except mr z. cuz i'm um...not greek. throughout the duration of our relationship, i've very much enjoyed learning all things greek. not the least which is the food culture. mr z's mom and yiayia are in no small part responsible for the 5 pounds i gain every time we go home. (that spanikopita is worth every.single.ounce.)

cooking is something that brings me closer to people. i revel in those treasured moments in which i'm able to cook with my sisters. i enjoy watching others cook dishes they are ohsovery proud to serve. cooking, to me, is kind of a window into the soul. too corny? most likely. but it's not entirely unwarranted. i think you learn something about a person by watching them cook and seeing what they create. just knowing that someone loves to cook speaks to the type of person they are. i'm so thankful that mr z's family shares similar views on food as my own. they see the value in cooking together, the importance of good fresh ingredients and the power of a communal meal. mr z's mom is also quick to share recipes and tips, which i was beyond grateful for when i decided this past sunday that i wanted to make dolmathes. i've seen mr z's mom make dolmathes many times and i did help her "roll" a few when she visited us a few months ago, but i had never made them on my own. i immediately dialed her up to get the recipe and instructions. she relayed each step perfectly and i was able to make them look [almost] as beautiful as hers!

traditionally these are made with ground pork and beef and mr z's mom said that some greek cooks make an avgolemono sauce to top the dolmathes, which is made with eggs. obviously i don't eat either of those things. mr z's mom has been very helpful in assisting me with converting this into a vegan dish. turns out it's completely doable! and they hardly taste any different than the traditional ones i've had!

here's the *vegan* recipe she created for me:

6 servings of white rice - cooked

1 large bunch of dill roughly chopped (some recipes call for1 bunch of mint as well. i like to use just dill. and LOTS of it)

1 onion diced

1/4 cup olive oil (may need more)

salt and pepper to taste

1 jar grape leaves (reserve juice)

sauce

1/4 olive oil

1/4 cup flour

1 cup braising liquid from dolmathes

juice of 1 lemon

cook rice

heat skillet over medium heat and coat with small amount of olive oil. add diced onion and cook till translucent, approximately 5-7 minutes.

in large bowl combine rice, onion, dill and olive oil. add salt and pepper to taste. set aside.

now for the assembly:

remove grape leaves from jar. (DO NOT DUMP OUT THE JUICE)

unfold the leaves. you'll see that each leaf still has a stem attached. you'll need to snip/cut each stem off before using. after separating the leaves and snipping off the stems, rinse leaves thoroughly.

take 1 grape leaf and place shiny side down on a flat surface

depending on the size of the grape leaf (they vary in size) scoop approximately a tablespoon of rice into the center of the leaf. fold over in thirds and then "roll" up the remainder of the leaf.

you'll need a large heavy bottom pot. i used my dutch oven. line the bottom and sides with grape leaves. as you roll each leaf, place in concentric circles around the pan. stack on top of each other until you are done.

pour all the juice from the jar of grape leaves into the pot and add enough water to just cover the tops of the dolmathes. place heavy plate over top layer of dolmathes and cover. cook over medium heat for at least 1 hour.

once the dolmathes have finished cooking:

heat olive oil in small pan and add flour. whisk until smooth. cook for a minute of two, but watch closely to make sure the roux does not burn. take 1-1 1/2 cups of braising liquid from the pot of dolmathes and add to roux. whisk until smooth. add juice of 1 lemon and perhaps a bit of salt. taste before adding salt; the grape leaf juice can be very salty. simmer for 10 minutes.

i removed the dolmathes from the dutch oven and put them into a baking dish and poured the sauce over the top because i knew i'd have leftovers and would eventually have to move them. it was a preemptive attack.

i served with a simple arugula salad and greek style tomatoes.

thanks again to mr z's mother! can't thank you enough for sharing your knowledge! the meal turned out great. the only thing missing was family to share it with. hope to see you soon!

days like these

2011-08-01T15:37:00.000-06:00

i feel very lucky to live here.

time

2011-06-28T11:00:00.003-06:00

recently i had a ~~pushy~~ lovely friend not so privately remind me that it's been quite a while since i've visited the kitchen sink. first of all: i know, i'm awful at blogging. second of all: jacek, thanks for blowing up my spot on fb.
here's the deal. i have been at a crossroads, of sorts, for a while. i have to be careful how much i divulge here; as i'm not exactly sure who lurks out there in the interwebs. (you know who you are.) i'm in a "grass is always greener" kind of place. i feel like i need change in my life; in a big way. but it takes time to be able to make those changes. much thought and planning must go in to making such changes. there are things i want to do; and at least i know what they are now. just takes time. time is all i need. time after time. time keeps on slippin slippin slippin...i digress. so i've been what i like to call disoccupied (it's a mix of distracted and preoccupied.) there have also been some happenings in my life that are somewhat more tangible; including but not limited to my position as a co-producer of a local environmental talk radio program here in park city. (check it out tuesday mornings from 9-10 [MST] on 91.9 in park city or streaming live at http://www.kpcw.org/ we also have a blog. check it! http://www.thisgreenearth.wordpress.com/ and on twitter! and facebook! yay!) i still have my 9-5'er so i'm just working for the show on the side. the show is also going through a life crisis; one of the co-hosts is moving back east and there may be a chance for me to host the show on the reg. i don't get to attend the show often so i am super excited at the thought of meeting and learning from so many of the fabulous guests that come to the show. living sustainably has becoming increasingly important to me over the last year, and i have since been trying to align myself with people that share those same ideals. my belief is that this will one day open doors. a girl can dream.
i also ran my first half marathon recently in jackson hole, wy. had quite a bit of trouble with a nagging IT band on my left leg. this proved to be quite an issue by mile 10. i was proud of myself for finishing. 2:21 was my final time, which clearly reflects the fact that i crossed the finish line looking not unlike quasimodo. as rewarding as completing the race was, the real highlight of the weekend was this:

why yes, that IS a tie tattoo. on his chest. and obviously when you have a tie TATTOOED ON YOUR CHEST, it only makes sense that you WOULDN'T WEAR A SHIRT. i fear this fine young gentleman has a lifetime of trouble ahead of him. (not the least of which will be girls like me heckling him)

to be honest, the best part of the trip was the company with which i travelled. i went with a group of girlfriends from park city, and had more fun than i can remember having in a very long time.

it was just what i needed. and since it wasn't my town, i could do things like this and not have to own up to it the next day at the grocery store.

aren't you proud, mom? if it helps to soften the blow, i stole that cowboy hat from the WINNER of that day's rodeo competition. so at least you taught me to have standards.

ps. i'm sitting in a saddle. which makes it even more awesomely bad.

in other news: i'm still on the vegan train. so the answer to your burning question: yes, i'm still crazy.

i'm still pretty mellow about it. i don't like announcing it at restaurants and things of that nature. it causes a fuss and i'm not a fan of that. so i eat animal free as often as i possibly can and try not to worry too much about it when i don't. i've started receiving my weekly CSA delivery, which has been superawesome. i love it. i've been cooking and using up my weekly produce as quickly as i can. i've been on an arugula kick the last few weeks. i can't get enough of this simple salad:

arugula

crisp apple diced

candied nuts of your choice-heat nuts in skillet with a bit of your sweetener of choice and brown

lemon vinaigrette-juice of 1 lemon, 4 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 tsp raw agave, 2 tsp white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. shake/stir/whisk together. toss with first 3 ingredients. yum.

feel free to serve with delicious homemade focaccia. cause that's pretty awesome, too.

and i'll leave with this little delight. i'll share the recipe soon.

ps. it's 100% vegan. deal with it:

any given saturday

2011-04-22T15:39:00.003-06:00

a day in the life of watson.

hop in the car with his sister, zilla. who wants to go for a hike???

he'll ocassionally stop long enough for me to take a picture or two.

zilla is even faster than watson. she sat nicely for her portrait though.

after a nice long hike/run, the dogs are ready to call it a day. it's not long after walking through the door that we find watson like this:

we have had some unseasonably cold and snowy weather this week so the poor guy is going a bit stir crazy. the problem with having an active dog is that the more active they are, the more active you need to keep them. he doesn't sit idle well. although its still chilly, the sun is finally shining today. he and i shall make the most of it with an after-work run. one of our favorite things to do together.

finding your inner veganist

2011-04-21T14:00:00.002-06:00

oh good you're still here. i thought the word "vegan" might have scared all of you away. i know that it's not an extremely sexy diet, but there are some bright points. including these cookies that i will share with you. after eating these regularly at a local whole foods, a friend of mine googled the recipe for these vegan cookies. the base of the original cookie is tahini and honey, but i've fiddled with the recipe of number of times now and i think i've found my favorite version.

vegan tahini cookies

3 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 cup all natural peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg

1 cup sesame seeds or slivered almonds (or a combination of the two)

1/4 cup macadamia nuts

1 bar [of your favorite] dark chocolate, roughly chopped

combine all ingredients and form into flat discs. (because of the lack of fat in the cookies, they will hardly spread on the sheet. i found this out the hard way. the first time i made them, i formed every single cookie into perfectly uniform dough balls. i took them out of the oven and found that they were still perfectly uniform dough balls. they don't spread. at all.) bake them in a 350 degree oven for approximately 12-15 minutes. wait for them to cool a bit on the pan before removing. they break apart easily. enjoy!

oh, also, i have made these with dried fruit instead of chocolate. currents, coconut, cranberries, apricots...i've tried many different variations. you really can't mess up this recipe, so experiment with your favorite flavors.

san fran

2011-04-20T15:37:00.000-06:00

ooh boy do i love san francisco. i could live there. like. today. i enjoy every minute that i'm in that great city, and last weekend was no exception. although i adore the city and all that it has to offer, the best part of my recent trip was this:

spending time with my dear friend, jacek. i don't get to see him nearly enough.

i had such a great time running around the city with jacek and another good friend, nick. i didn't want to leave, but knew that i had to get back to these guys.

thanks again, nick (and phillip!) for putting ~~up with us~~ us up!

listen to this:

2011-03-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

i'm not one to be pushy about music, but i am making an exception here. you must go and listen to adele. and then download everything she has ever done. immediatley.

oatmeal sandwich bread-recipe included

2011-03-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

i finally found the recipe online. raise your hand if you're a slacker at work! *raises hand*
http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/wheat-oatmeal-sandwich-bread/
i actually wasn't looking for the bread recipe, i was just reading this new blog that i recently discovered through pw (oh and fell instanly in love.) it was just a bonus that they happened to have posted about this bread recently.
check out the rest of their site. lovely photography and unique recipes. i'm a fan.

our daily bread

2011-02-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

i love bread. who doesn't, right? but i have a hard time dropping that much dough (ha!) for a good loaf. so when i have the time, and the fresh yeast, i'll throw some together. my lovely friend jaime gave me a great cookbook called good to the grain by kim boyce. (who shares a name with my high school sex ed teacher. i'm pretty sure it's not the same person. pretty sure.) the author uses a wide variety of whole grain flours. spelt, rye, whole wheat to name a few. but also some others of a more obscure variety; amaranth, teff, kamut*. i've used a number of recipes and i've loved each of them. i made the oatmeal sandwich bread [an old standby already] but tried my hand (ha!) at a new recipe over the weekend. focaccia**:

made with half spelt flour/half all purpose, it was as good as any focaccia i've tried. the recipe made 3 loaves, which was a bit much for us. i left one plain, made one with italian herbs, and the third was garlic/italian herb/parmigiano reggiano cheese. all were fantastic.

and here is the beautiful oatmeal sandwich bread**:

i wish i had more time to make bread. there is just something special about combining the simplest of ingredients to make something so incredibly delicious and substantial.

and really; is there anything that smells better than freshly baked bread?

* i've been able to find most of these flours in the bulk section of my local whole foods market

** i tried to find these recipes online, but to no avail. and since i barely have time to make the bread, i certainly don't have time to type up the recipe for my blog.

holly does utah (v.2)

2011-02-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

my girlfriend holly recently rolled through town.

this was the fortune i recieved the night before holly was due in utah:

and a delight she was!

after some brief airline drama (her flight was cancelled and she was booked on one much much later in the day...boo) she finally arrived. a quick drive back to park city and the catching up and wine drinking ensued. and then a hell of a lot more of the same. we just hung out and relaxed for most of the visit....made dinner, laughed, went for a nice nordic ski, laughed more, shopped on main st....and just enjoyed each other's company. i love all of my girlfriends but it's always extra special to spend time with an old friend. (i've known holly since we were in our early teens.) holly is a very dear friend and her visits mean the world to me.

love you, holl. oh and thanks for delighting me.

what i am loving these days

2011-02-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

the beautiful blooming amaryllis sitting on my kitchen table right now. i wish it would bloom for all eternity.

[what should have been] our christmas card

2011-01-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

if we were into that sort of thing, this is what we should have sent out as our christmas card. but since i am not even close to being that on top of things [particularly around the holidays] i will share our would-be christmas photo with all of you now.

christmas-west coast style

2010-12-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

here are some snapshots of the current weather conditions in park city utah:

although i love the snow and i love to ski, this seemed a bit much....especially pre-christmas. this might give you some indication as to why we were oh so excited to be heading west for the holiday.
instead of snow covered pine trees adorning our yard, i spotted this in bloom at the home of our gracious christmas day hosts:

just a biiiit of a change. we left middle of last week to spend the holiday with mr z's brother chris and his wife christina. (we visited them just a few months ago; we knew we'd be back for more.) mr z's mother and stepdad flew in from the east coast to join the party as well. chris and christina were gracious enough [again] to put us up and we could not have been happier about this. we had a great time running around the city; chris yet again playing tour guide extraordinaire. one of the highlights of the trip (outside of christmas, duh) was visiting the getty center. i love museums and feel a bit cheated living in utah; we have precious few in both park city and salt lake city. so i reveled in all things art at the getty. beautiful exhibits in ancient chinese art, some very "interesting" photos in the photography exhibit, and some very cool and veerry old drawings in the "secret lives of drawing" room. (oh and by "interesting" photos, i mean weird and arbitrary. i don't think i'm culturally dense or blind to the beauty of art; in any and all mediums; but really is a picture of strawberry pie art? just sayin.) as beautiful as the exhibits were, the grounds of the museum might have been even more grandiose. i tried to capture the beauty of the impeccably manicured gardens and the incredible architecture of the building itself:

some of the photos were taken from one of the many balconies on various levels of the museum. we luxuriated in every morsel of sunshine that we could. i enjoyed the museum so much, thanks again for taking us chris!
mr z and i snuck away christmas eve to visit a club in pacific palisades where he interned a few years ago. just gorgeous. some pictures of the beautiful course:

robert kraft's house:

quite a few of the guys that mr z worked with were still around so he was able to connect with them after not seeing them for many years. and since they all loved mr z (as most people do) they were kind enough to lend us a cart so mr z could show me the course. i couldn't believe that i was riding around in a golf cart in a skirt and light sweater on the 23rd of december. i think i could get used to that.

of course the trip was all centered around our christmas celebration. christina's parents played gracious hosts to the whole gang. chris prepared a ham for dinner. with a little help from the honey baked ham company, of course. (first hbh experience for me. shockingly good.) we made some great vegetables side dishes; mashers, sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli, and carrots. all came out excellent. especially those carrots! (mr z's mom made them and as with most home cooks, she thought they could have been made better by doing x,y, and z to them. but of course, they were perfect!) christina made a fabulous chocolate cake for dessert, which was made even more tasty by chris' addition of chocolate chips.
after dinner, we finally made it to the christmas tree for presents. i won't bore everyone with a complete list of gifts but i do want to point out a few things. first, mr z's mom and stepdad to WAY too much for us, considering our gift was being with them for christmas. beyond grateful for the wonderful gifts that we received. second, mr z got me this:

a sea bag stocking and change purse. i die. just wondering how i can fashion the stocking into a purse so i can use it all year long.

we took a trip to malibu on monday for a great lunch and a walk on the beach:

was a fabulous trip, and we really can't thank everyone enough for such a great christmas.
and a extra thanks to mr z's mom, your gift was more than generous, please know how much it meant to us. it was such a pleasure to spend christmas with your family, i feel blessed to have gotten so lucky with you guys!

oh oh oh, i almost forgot to mention another highlight of the trip. chris' sandra bullock as leigh anne tuohy from the blind side impersonation. it's uncanny, really. the first time i heard this little treasure was during our last visit watching the pats play the ravens. michael oher ("big mike" from the movie) had a few crucial errors and chris thought he'd channel sandra bullock and give him a bit of a pep talk. "maaahhhkel, that teahm is yuah faaamily...." something like that. if only i had some audio to share with all of you...it's kind of a combination of paula deen and jeff foxworthy....and also a mouthful of peanut butter. i couldn't blog about another los angeles trip without mentioning his famous impersonation. quite a treat for all.

christmas cookies-the round up

2010-12-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

i did it, i finally made it happen. i finished and delivered all of the christmas cookies. here a few pictures of the finished product:

we left wednesday for the holiday weekend, and i was barely able to squeeze in the last of the deliveries the night before we left. they seemed to be well recieved. and as i thought would be the case, their thank yous and kind words made it allll worth it.

hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

cookies-sneak peak

2010-12-20T11:37:00.002-07:00

this was the first year that i did the christmas cookie thing alone. every other year, i've at least had someone to help me complete this [daunting] task. be it a friend, sister, boyfriend...i've always had a helper. i tried to combine my baking with jaime's over at chez redhead again this year, but timing just wasn't in our favor and we couldn't make it happen. i had slowly been plugging away at the dough...making one or two here and there for the last week. i still had a long road ahead of me, though. so as this past weekend approached, i knew i had to get down to business. it was now or never. i was able to make some serious headway on saturday; baking off the following cookies:

mexican hot chocolate cookies
chocolate caramel sandwich cookies
grasshopper squares
eggnog cheesecake squares
molasses crinkles
orange almond lace cookies (mr z's favorite)
pumpkin spice cookies (no recipe available online)

i was feeling really good about my progress. so good that i decided to reward myself by meeting friends for drinks saturday night. come sunday morning, i quickly realized that i could not have made a worse decision. i woke up ~~with a monster hangover~~ not feeling at the top of my game and it took an incredible amount of effort to make my way back to the kitchen. i managed to bake off the basic butter cookies for my petit lemon curd cookies, filled the chocolate sandwich cookies with their [oh so amazing] caramel frosting, cut and packaged the grasshopper squares, and somehow pulled off this amazing nougat candy. (family members: who else remembers nonna bringing this to our christmas and thanksgiving dinners?) i still have one more cookie to bake tonight; i've seen them called a few different things. martha stewart calls them jam filled cream cheese cookies, another magazine calls them kolacky cookies, and at the top of a hand written recipe that i've had and used for almost 10 years now they are called "cooper's kolacky cookies". my mother also made these growing up and i have NO idea what she called them. whatever their moniker, they are heavenly; have always been a personal favorite of mine. i saved the best for last. once these are done, and the eggnog cheesecake bars have been cut and packaged, it will be time to pack them up all purrty and begin making my deliveries. that's precisely when i'll realize that all of it was worth it.

meanwhile, we've been getting quite a bit of snow since saturday.

poor watson is anxious for me to be done with all of the baking as well. he's pretty excited to get out and do more of this: