The holidays are getting into full swing around the Suri household. Our tree is up and decorated (so pretty!), I’ve finished all my holiday shopping, and I’ve made my first batch of homemade eggnog. Today is Cookie Day.

Every year Sid and I throw a big Holiday Party at our place, where I serve eggnog and bubbly and tea sandwiches and…cookies. Now, I’m not usually a cookie person. They’re a lot of work and, in my view, not as good as cake or creamy desserts. But at the holidays, cookies are a must. This year I’m trying two new recipes, Lisa Dupar’s “Crack Cookies” and Carmelitas (both on my sister’s recommendation).

I’m endeavoring to make all the cookies today and then freeze them for next weekend’s party (when I’ll be busy making the aforementioned tea sandwiches, which – btw – are a shitload of work but so worth it).

The house is warm from the oven running all day and smells like ginger and cinnamon and sweet cream cheese and caramel.

These little treats (as, of course, one must taste, taste, taste when cooking) are helping the weekend’s other big project along — grading. We’ve come at last to the end of the semester. My final exams are still looming, but I have a big ole pile of research papers to get through by Wednesday.

In between the cooking and grading (and Pilates classes!), I have gotten some writing done. Actually, I’ve had a bit of a breakthrough on Project Awesome and pounded out about 3k this weekend. As regular readers know, I’ve been getting stuck and unstuck and stuck again on this novel draft A LOT. So, for now, I appear to be unstuck. And that, dear reader, is worthy of another celebratory cookie!

Happy Holidays 🙂