Baking . . .

I've been in the Christmas spirit lately, as evidenced by the goodies I've been baking. Here are some samples below. The decorated sugar cookies are flavored with almond extract and sprinkled with decorations. The white cookies in the center are the "pecan puffs," an old Swedish recipe from my first mother-in-law. They are light & buttery & coated with powdered sugar. I think they are my favorites. Fortunately, I don't make them very often . . .
















Below are little bite-size versions of the larger cookies above. I also made dark chocolate-dipped, decorated pretzels & also, haystacks (oops, they're all gone!) which are made from chow main noodles & salted peanuts, mixed with melted butterscotch chips & spooned out to set. It's nice to have these for parties & local gifts. I've already taken some to my chigerie class and our Red Hat Christmas party. Just wish I could share them with my family & friends back home, but they just don't make the long trip very well . . . guess you'll just have to enjoy the pictures!