Warm Cookies

Santa Claus is coming soon and I have my book of cookie recipes raring to go. I love baking cookies, I always have. I remember as a little girl using my Easy Bake Oven to cook those terrible mixes that came with it. Fortunately, my baking skills have improved since then, and so has my equipment!
But the thing that makes this year so special for me is the chance to create these cookies with my daughter. This is the first Christmas that she is really aware of the season and the stories and Santa.
I have had some massive changes in my life in 2008, massive! I have had some difficulty this year getting into the "holiday spirit", which is something that has never been hard for me in the past. Let me tell you, looking at Christmas through a three-year-old's eyes makes it sparkle again like I never realized it would. You should try it sometime, the wonder on her face is magical.
Milk and cookies anyone?

Just a little bit further...

I went for a marvelous walk on the beach yesterday with my sweetheart. It seemed that we walked forever talking and just enjoying the afternoon. In fact, we walked to the end of the "tourist area" and found a small cut in the sand where water flowed out from a tidal pool area. It seems that almost everyone else stopped there and turned back towards the hotels. It wasn't much of an obstacle, I mean it was only about four feet wide and two feet deep. We looked at it and shrugged our shoulders and forged ahead. We wanted to go just a bit further.
Our exploratory attitude paid off. Not far past this "impassable river" we found scores of beautiful and unusual shells, sea urchins and even some crabs. I commented on how I'd never seen so many whole shells like that before on our beaches. Then I realized that the little creek that we crossed kept most of the tourists away, so there weren't many people who came to this area to beach comb. It was such a small obstacle, yet most people didn't have enough forward motion to cross it. Silly really... look what they missed!