Merry Christmas!

...and yes I did fall off the planet for a while! Work and baking escalated to the point where I no extra cycles to deal with blogging.

I baked the last cookies on Wednesday and started packaging everything. I finished the packaging at midnight last night. It's been a lot of long days and nights, but so worth it!

Here's a picture of some biscotti waiting for the chocolate to dry:

I made 439 biscotti this year, down about 80 from last year. There are 30 people on the goodie bag list, and they each get biscotti. Here are 12 of the biscotti packages ready to give away, each with a dozen inside:

And a close-up:

Biscotti types:

• Chocolate-Hazelnut
• Espresso-Almond
• Grand Marnier-Almond
• Coconut-Almond
• Peppermint-Almond
• Pistachio-Cranberry

Half are dipped in chocolate and the other half are plain.

I made 10 kinds of cookies this year, a yield of 635 cookies. These also go to the goodie recipients. Here's a look at 22 of the cookie containers just after sorting:

and a close-up:

Cookie types:

• Frosted Sugar cookies
• Spumoni Slices
• Chocolate-Espresso Slices
• Mexican Wedding Cookies,
• Cherry Kisses
• Chocolate Crinkles
• Pistachio Coins
• Ginger cookies
• Spritz
• Coconut-Cranberry Chews

I delivered 7 of the goodie bags to my co-workers on Tuesday. The rest will be delivered or mailed over the next few days.

I managed to finish baking and most of the packaging in time to clean the house before making Christmas Eve dinner. We had our traditional Cioppino dinner with an Apple-Cranberry Galette for dessert. It was a wonderful meal and we enjoyed the time we spent with The Husband's parents.

After they left, I packaged all of the pumpkin bread, fruitcakes and gingerbread loaves/cakes that I defrosted earlier in the day—I made 50 total, 7 had already been given to co-workers. I also packaged the chocolate bark for the local goodie bags—12 in all.

I put all of the gift bags by the tree, which made it look like we had lots of gifts:

We had a very quiet Christmas. The highlight of the day was a call from The Daughter, who is visiting her boyfriend in Hungary. We had a pleasant lunch with the Husband's parents and have just been vegging since then. Dinner will be left-over cioppino! LOL!

Tomorrow, I plan to do almost nothing, except reacquaint myself with my poor, languishing craft projects. I feel the urge to quilt...and weave...and spin...  HA! I'll have to pick one and just go for it!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays!