Tag: cookie baking

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Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites #121

Hello everyone! Happy Friday! It is the Friday before Thanksgiving. The holiday being so late this year is really throwing me off, so I have already begun to do some of my holiday prep, since I know December will fly by.

Signs of Christmas have already been popping up!

I hope you have something fun planned for the weekend, whether it be festive or not. The past few weeks have been busy between work, family commitments and some trips too, so I am looking forward to a bit of a breather before the holidays. 

You know winter is getting close when you see frost in the mornings.

Today’s post is very holiday themed and I have a feeling the next several Friday Favorites will follow suit, here’s a look at what I’ve been loving this week as I link up with Erika and Andrea.

Holiday Sweatshirt– I always love my festive graphic tee shirts to wear around the holidays. One of my local grocery stores had a bunch of seasonal items out for display, including sweatshirts. I thought they looked cute, but didn’t buy any. For the next several days, I kept thinking about the apparel and decided to go back and buy one and I couldn’t be happier with my decision. I love the colors and the fact I can wear it through the winter too, and not just on Christmas. 

Start of Holiday Baking– Since Christmas is weeks away, I have begun my holiday baking. As a way to make sure I don’t get too overwhelmed with the thought of baking dozens of cookies the week before Christmas, I started a new system last year that I will continue to use this year. I love to bake and typically bake one type of cookie or dessert a week. Now, through Christmas when I do my weekly baking, they will mostly be a family favorite cookie, and I will share half and save the other half. This way, people are still enjoying a homemade item every week, but I have cookies for the holidays. I am slowly making my way through my cookie list. A few weeks ago, I made my Halloween Candy cookies (it’s a sugar cookie with leftover pieces of candy) and they were a hit. I can’t wait to continue more baking in the next few weeks.

A beautiful first batch!

Bridget Jones New Trailer– I am a huge fan of rom coms and Bridget Jones Diary is one of my all time favorite movies. A new series was announced through Peacock following the three movies and the trailer just came out. You can watch it here. I was a bit sad to see the plotline and concept for it, but I will be watching. It’s a great example of moving on in life after loss.  It’s so fun to see a lot of the characters return and interesting to see how they have aged through the years. Will you be watching?!

Outlander Returns– Sticking with tv, one of my favorite tv shows returned for a new season. Outlander is back! I binged watched this show several years ago and have been watching it weekly ever since. The show is in its final season, so I can’t wait to see how it all wraps up. I may or may not have started it yet, depending on when you are reading this, but I can’t wait to get back to binging it.

Here– Have you seen the new movie “Here” yet? It stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. It’s all about a home and all the different people who live there through the years. The coolest part of the movie was the fact it was shot from one camera angle. It’s truly a cinematic masterpiece! I loved the concept, the storylines, and the casting. The message was truly beautiful too! It’s a must see for me!

That’s a look into what I’ve been loving this week. I can’t believe we are less than a week away from Thanksgiving! Time is going by too fast! Have a wonderful weekend!

Categories
Let's Look

Let’s Look: How We Prep for the Holidays

Hello all! Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a great week as we made it to hump day! I don’t know about you, but it is full on fall here, we have had rainy days, leaves falling and some sunshine peaking through, but the changing weather is getting me excited for the next few months.

Cool crisp fall mornings

This year has been flying by, I can’t believe we are already at the second week of October. It’s time for another Let’s Look, where we share different parts of our lives. Each month, I link up with  Shay and Erika to share my thoughts on different topics. 

Here’s what we have covered so far this year:

In January, we talked about How We Clean Our Closets.

In February, the topic was Things We Do Every Day

In March, it was all about what’s in our Grocery Carts

In April, we chatted about our Quiet and Prayer Time.

In May, we talked about Summer Staples.

In June, we shared our Summer Schedules.

In July, we chatted about our favorite TV Shows and Podcasts.

In August, we learned about our Pantry Staples

In September, we shared Easy Weeknight Meals

This month, the topic is how we prep for the holidays. I love all the seasons, summer is by far my favorite, but I do enjoy the “Ber” months…September, October, November and December. There is so much to look forward to, from the holidays, traditions, extra family time, and festivities. 

Fall, one of my favorite times of the year

As we get closer to the holiday months, I’m sharing how I prep for all the fun and I hope you will share some of your holiday prep hacks too! I don’t have my own home or family yet, so how I prepare may look a little different.

I always like to prep for the holiday seasons, by creating bucket lists, by writing a bucket or goal list, this ensures that things that I want or hope to get done, get accomplished. Some are big activities and others are little outings or things I want to cook or bake. For example, my fall bucket list includes celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, watching festive movies, enjoying holiday treats and Halloween activities.

I don’t know how I will celebrate Halloween on the actual holiday, but I do plan on making some festive treats, decorating and enjoying some Halloween movies. 

Some fall treats from last year

As far as Thanksgiving goes, we typically enjoy the holiday with family and then we have our own Thanksgiving dinner the weekend after. Preparations for Thanksgiving looks like figuring out what traditional dishes will be made, baking pies, and doing some decorating around the house. These are subtle ways to celebrate the holiday. There’s so much cooking and baking that goes into Thanksgiving that it is nice to just enjoy the time with family. 

A delicious, Thanksgiving spread!

Christmas always comes with the most prep. Once again, I make a Christmas bucket list of things I want to do around the Christmas season, from ice skating, baking cookies, shopping, looking at lights, and decorating. I like to make the most out of the Christmas season.

Prep for Christmas starts with decorating the day after Thanksgiving, it’s a tradition we have been doing for years and it’s always one of my favorite things.

I will also make a master list of people I want to buy for and set a budget. I keep a running list in my phone of who I need to buy for, what the gift is, the status of it, and how much I spent. Once all the gifts have arrived, I take time to wrap them all and watch a holiday movie. This method always keeps me organized.

I love to bake cookies around the holidays and one of the ways that I prep is by making one or two types of cookies a week leading up to Christmas. I will share some with family after I bake them and then store the rest for the holidays. This method ensures that I get all my baking done, but I’m not stressed getting it done.

After all the prep is done, it’s time to enjoy the holidays and relax. There’s only so much prep you can do, what matters is the end result and spending time with family and loved one around the holidays. They will be here before we know it, so I want to know what hacks you have to make the holidays smoother? Let me know in the comments below! Happy Holiday Prepping!