I'm still alive

I know what you're going to say.  Or rather, I know how I've been scolding myself with in my head.  I've been bad. I left you. Willingly.  Knowingly.  And then I breathed a huge sigh.

It's just that my plate has been feeling a little crowded lately and I was trying really hard to keep it all balanced.  But then it toppled.  And instead of picking things up right away to start balancing again like a good girl, I let them all exactly where they lay and I ran away for a little while.

In case you are wondering, they are all still laying exactly where they fell.  I won't lie.  It might be quite a few days before I pick them up again.  I will pick them up again but for now I'm still living happily in my hiatus for the holiday season.  Besides, do you really need another Christmas sugar cookie recipe?

I did just make some peppermint fudge.  It is indeed fantastic.

Anyways, to prove that I am alive and doing some real, actual things (and not just watching Everybody loves Raymond reruns...) here's a quick update:

I turned 25! The days leading up to it totally scared me, but now I'm realizing I'm pretty much owning 25. I mean, I look pretty good in the light of my flaming birthday pie. Which by the way was triple chocolate pumpkin pie.  And it was exactly as intense as it sounds.

I tried several of new recipes from both new and old magazines.  I did it without taking a single picture.  I almost forgot how easy it was to cook when I was rushing trying to not burn the nuts and still get a half decent picture in the fast fading light. The newest recipe I tried?  Apple stuffed strata from Cooking Light's December 2012 issue. In case you weren't sure, no, I did not take the fabulous picture below.  But yes, it was as tasty as it looks!

I did take pictures of the new stuffing recipe that I tried out for Thanksgiving.  But, in keeping with the now one year old tradition, I will post it next year at this time.  Besides, you don't want stuffing right now when there are cookies to eat.

And did I mention the peppermint fudge??  Seriously, super easy.  It goes something like this: Buy some marshmallow fluff.  Follow the instructions on the jar.  Up until it calls for vanilla extract.  Now, use peppermint extract instead. Then top it with crushed candy canes. And do you best to refrain from eating half of the pan yourself. We've got a lot more calories go this holiday season...

In conclusion. I'm still alive. I'll be back. And hey, look at that, I even included a recipe.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!