it's that time!

So this week I finally was able to get more things in order for Christmas, which is hilarious because I'm leaving next week to go back to the States for a month which means I'll just get to do it all over again! WOOO! I finally finished decorating the tree, which was a bit of a drama because finding Christmas lights was way more difficult than it was last year.  I also started Christmas baking.  I made two types of cut out cookies; Gingerbread and Sugar.  I used a new Gingerbread recipe...both are not original recipes of my own but they are still really good, and the links are included there.  The only change I made, was that I added a tiny bit of almond extract to the sugar cookies.  Also I converted all the measurements in the Gingerbread recipe to metric because I weigh in all my baking now, it makes my results more consistent and I use fewer dishes, and I am not always searching for pesky missing measuring cups.

That being said, I am really happy with the results now.  I used this frosting for the sugar cookies, I just substituted regular shortening for butter flavored, because it is what I had.  I made a traditional Royal Icing for the Gingerbread men(1 egg white+5.3oz of confectioners sugar) and I added a bit of orange extract, because orange goes so well with gingerbread. The gingerbread men were inspired by mini-gingerbread cookies I saw in Marks&Spencer's over a week ago, they were decorated in a similar fashion and were called Jazzy Trousers, so I hope these Gingery-men enjoy their fancy Christmas outfits :)
I also finally finished decorating the Christmas Tree.  There was a bit of a drama in that department.  I only got to enjoy the decorated tree for a few days before taking off home to the States for Christmas.  But my Dad will be Home Alone(!) for another week and I know he enjoys it.
Christmas isn't just a time for decorating and baking, it is a great time to get to know your neighbors by bringing them treats of the season, and making up for not being neighborly the previous 11 months.  I recommend getting to know your neighbors, mostly because when they know you, they seem to be quieter at night :)