I'm having a serious problem today - I want to bake.
I'm feeling this compulsion to bake because it's Christmas and that's what housewives do at Christmas. Every single blog I read has confirmed this fact. I am supposed to be baking cookies for my family, and if I was a really good housewife, I'd exchange them with other housewives. My family is supposed to eat these cookies and drink hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies and stare at the tree and feel Christmasy.
This is a problem for a couple of reasons. First, I can't bake. Second, I have nobody to bake for which translates to my husband and I consuming dozens of cookies all by ourselves. His metabolism may be able to handle it, but mine certainly cannot.
I really do like to bake Christmas cookies, and I am a master of the sugar cookie - or at least decorating the sugar cookie. However, cookies don't travel on airplanes all that well, so I had no plans to bake any this year. And honestly, it's part of my strategy to not gain weight this holiday season. I exercise, but I'm not one of those people who tells myself that if I run for an extra twenty minutes I can enjoy a cookie. I know there are recipes that are lower in fat or calories, but those aren't ones I want to make or eat.
But somehow it just doesn't feel like Christmas without getting covered in flour and frosting.
This is the one time of year when I really, really miss being in the Midwest. I don't miss the cold at all, and I really don't miss the snow either, but I miss being close enough to my family that I could drive to their houses on Christmas with my cookies. I didn't worry about shipping presents, or whether I was going to fit all my clothes in a carry on suitcase, or last minute changes to our trip itinerary. When I lived in Wisconsin, I lived a mile from one of my sisters, so we could do all sorts of Christmasy things together.
In a lot of ways, this move to Charlotte has been similar to getting re-married in that we've had to rethink and renegotiate our Christmas traditions. I didn't shop on Black Friday for the first time since I was thirteen, we didn't decorate the outside of our place, I'm not making sugar cookies, etc. We've had to figure out how to make quality time with both families while working around airline schedules and prices. I'm not able to do the things I've always counted on to put me in the Christmas Spirit so I'm being challenged to come up with new traditions and new ways to celebrate the Christmas Season - like visiting the Biltmore. I enjoy these new experiences, but I still miss some of the old traditions.
And I miss the smell of freshly baked cookies.
Me too! I've had this serious Christmas-cookie baking itch but honestly, this is the worst time of the year to try to pawn off your baked goods on people because there is so much going around and everyone is trying to "be good" because they know it is only going to get worse. I honestly spent about an hour looking online at different cookie recipes yesterday. Why? I'm not sure. I guess I felt like if I found some unique magical cookie that I would just have to make it and I would feel justified?
ReplyDeleteP.S. My word verification for the post above was "unhug." I found that a little sad. What do you suppose an "unhug" would be? The opposite of a hug? Take a hug back? Hugging someone but not being sincere about it?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was just a random group of words to make sure I wasn't a creep posting on your blog.
and I REALLY miss you making the sugar cookies...not that I don't love to bake them and even decorate them, I just don't give them the time they deserve and I don't want them to just be sloppy!
ReplyDeleteand I almost cried when you mentioned how you lived close and we did all sorts of things together...I miss that a TON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am lucky to have found a very good friend that is able to do some of the stuff with me now, but it's even a tad more fun and special when it's with family!