choices

  I know, really I do, that I am blessed with too many good choices. I don't mean to sound pampered or spoiled, but it would appear that I am in an almost constant state of contemplating these choices. And if there were "no holds barred" what would I choose? Stay at home or travel the world, career or beach bum, own a diner or enroll at Le Cordon Bleu, sell everything, pack up the family and save the sea turtles in the Galapagos Islands.

 Each life contains many chapters. For a good bit I was burdened by "I wonder if I would better serve the world if I joined the Peace Corps, live in an Ashram in the mountains, attend the teachings of the Dali Lama"? Now I am driven by a different spin on those thoughts: How can I best serve the world from where I stand right this minute? Buying a gift box for hospital patients battling life-threatening illnesses here, or help find a cure for children's cancer, donate to St. Jude's, support the SPCA, replant the rainforest, or help restore the Gulf coast just by buying gorgeous jewelry? 

help restore the Gulf Coast!

 I try to be always growing. Aware. Moving in the right direction. This includes trying to take better care of myself as I get old wiser. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it how much sugar I ate growing up, in high school a typical breakfast was a pack of mallow cups washed down with a classic coke. French Fries were a staple lunch, with pizza a close second. But luckily my collective junk food binge of the 60's, turned into a health kick in the 70's, where my mostly sugar diet was swapped for alfalfa, broccoli, sprouts, wheat germ and yogurt. Okay, yeah I get that it went from one extreme to another, but that is just so me. The point is, I started to care about what foods I was putting into my body, especially after I had my first child. 

help rescue a homeless animal!

 I admit it, my views about healthy food might not be altogether sound~I've praised the awesomeness of zucchini fritters, solitary dinners have been known to look like a carb lover's dream menu, my sugar roots know no bounds...hey, I'm not trying to deny anything. Really. Does anyone else crave a bucket of  popcorn for dinner? Or salivate at the prospect of munching cheese and crackers and calling it a meal?

help find a cure for cancer!

But come this time of year, even I blanch a bit at the holiday eating habits on the horizon, the ones against which I'll brace myself, only to give in the moment I meet my first array of holiday spreads and dips (Oh, my! Emma's crab dip!).  I have accepted that we all have to figure out a way to balance our eating, and that's okay because that's the way it has to be. Thank you, world, for a few lucid moments, but in the spirit of

the holiday season let me just say......

It's finally here! Cookie season!!! And, I admit to being a bit of a cookieholic. There is no cure, so please don't slay me over it. I find myself fantasizing over all the cookies I will be eating baking. Slow afternoons wearing flannel pajama pants, baking cookies, so with all this holiday craziness, I thought I would make something, well, Christmasy. Duh. So hard to follow, no? Um, no! So...moving on to those cookies, finally!

 Well, every year when planning out my Christmas cookie menu  [I know, right!] I have a few hard choices to make...one of my all time favorite cookies are "those little white ones" you may know them as Mexican wedding cakes or any number of other names they go by...I know what your thinking, who needs another recipe for those cookies, I was thinking it too, but dude they are all the same cookie with different names...like they had to go into the witness relocation program, it's nothing short of confusing. So, I had a throw down with myself~I made four [that's right, four] versions of the same cookie. The two major differences seem to be the nuts and butter vs shortening. The first recipe I tried from Epicurious was made with all butter and walnuts. The second batch I made with all shortening and walnuts. The third was my mom's recipe, half butter/half shortening with walnuts. The last was my mother-in-law, Emma's recipe, all butter with pecans. All this left me wondering if there was really that much difference to create all this fuss...? Not really; they're all pretty darn great. Just between you and me? honestly, I like my mom's recipe the best... I know, I know, sounds like the results were fixed, based on nostalgia, s'ok the other testers, hmmm they were all over the board...the verdict? ding ding ding... they are all winners. So, there ya have it, folks. Wait...the OTHER problem: the fact that I now have four batches of these cookies in the house~that's right~how many times do you think I'm in that cookie tin? Yeah. BIG PROBLEM.

(go here for recipe)
those little white cookie

I love giving gifts that support my favorite causes, highlighted above are links that will take you there...if you are looking for that perfect gift for someone on your list and want to support a cause, please...check them out!

peace.