Merry Christmas

Christmas seems to be all about excess these days. Over eating, over drinking, over gifting... And as much as I'd love to say that we managed to keep things simple this year, alas I cannot. With it being Addison's first Christmas, and her cousin Mia turning 5 on Christmas Eve, there were way too many presents. And Derek has discovered the hard way that it seems every toy lights up and makes noise nowadays. Addison is now the proud owner of several whirly-bop toys; some of which move, others that just play music and flash lights. She is so excited! We are a bit shell-shocked and find ourselves waking up with Raffi in our heads.

Despite all of this, Christmas was rather relaxed... Well, considering the crowd anyways. This year the entire family decided to congregate in Portland. With 22 people all attempting to eat around the same table for Christmas dinner, you can be sure that there was a little bit of chaos going on. Luckily Addison is the most mild mannered baby and seemed to rather enjoy all the attention and activity. She happily walked around chasing the cats (who were surprisingly happy to see her), or playing with her toys, and occasionally finding a willing adult to pick her up. At one point she even convinced my 85yr old grandmother to carry her around.

If you're having trouble picturing it, just think of the start of Home Alone and you'll have a pretty good approximation. Of course with lots of people, you get lots of good food and wine; especially since my cousin's husband is a certified sommelier. So while everyone ooh'd and aah'd over Addison, Derek and I took the opportunity to indulge in food and drink. And one of my favorite Christmas cookies was in abundance, so needless to say I ate way too many of them. I've provided the recipe below, which is attributed to my Great Great Great Aunt Dora (too bad I'm not sure who she is). And yes, Addison loves Christmas cookies, too.

So now we are back home, and hope to enjoy a more peaceful New Year's Eve before ramping up again for Addison's first birthday. I can't believe it's only a week away!

Butterball Cookies
1/2 cup butter (soft)
4 Tbsp sugar
1 cup flour
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chopped nuts
Powdered sugar

Cream the butter and sugar. Mix in the flour and vanilla. Finally mix in the nuts.
Roll the dough into small bite-sized balls. Place evenly spaced on a cookie sheet and bake for approx 8 - 10 minutes at 350.
While still hot, roll cookies in powdered sugar. Once cool, roll again in powdered sugar.