Merry Christmas Eve! Normally I’d have posted on Sunday but with it being a holiday weekend I figured I’d get this up earlier than usual. I hope you’ve had a wonderful week and will have an even better weekend! Are you ready or do you still have last minute shopping and baking to do?

Excuse me while I do a brief PSA. I’ve been the parent who forgot to charge the camera battery before a big event (eh hem… birthday) and had to pause unwrapping presents so I could charge it up. Talk about annoying, right? And I’ve also been the person (last month in fact) who forgot to put the memory card back in my camera. I don’t want that to happen to anyone else. So… *charge your camera batteries early and make sure you have a memory card (with room!) in your camera to catch all of those special moments.* :)

In case you missed it:
Candy cane thumbprints These are one of my absolute favorite must make cookies for Christmas. The peppermint frosting is definitely what makes them super special.
Spicy stuffed mushrooms These were fun and easy with a nice kick. They’d be perfect year round too and can be easily adjusted to your own heat preference.

Recipe love (gingerbread edition):
Gingerbread cookie dough truffles Blue-eyed Bakers – I did another silent squeal when I saw this early in the week. Oh how I wish I had some right now.
Gingerbread biscotti Chocolate and Carrots – I meant to make gingerbread biscotti this year, even though I’ve never ever made biscotti before. I’m being taunted by this deliciousness!
Gingerbread donuts Bake Your Day I could totally imagine eating these with a drizzle of sugary icing.
Gingerbread house dough Sprinkle Bakes I’ve wanted to make a gingerbread house so badly but have this fear of it being a disaster. Heather was nice enough to even include a template for your gingerbread house!
Gingerbread maple moon pies Tracey’s Culinary Adventures – The night before Tracey posted this I saw her asking if she should even post another gingerbread recipe. Clearly I butted in and responded with a YES! Gingerbread is always welcome. And this was definitely a must share.

My life:
There wasn’t much in the way of new cooking this week but it was definitely a busy week. Mostly there was running around tying up last minute things before the holidays. You know how it goes… cleaning, baking, wrapping. Which btw if I didn’t mention last week, some of my wrapping jobs were pretty interesting. I swear every present this year was oddly shaped and I was too lazy to find boxes to fit everything. I figure it’s gonna get ripped open anyway!

Being the crazy person I am… I took all three kids to Target this week. Yeah. I’m nuts. 4 year old convinced me to get this bright red polish (seen above). So we’re doing our nails this weekend a bright Christmas-y red… or rather a Jag-u-are red. ;) I love Essie. Do you have a favorite nail polish brand or color?

For the first time in my life I heard The Mr complain about too much dessert to eat. Too much?! How is that even possible? Well… I got to thinking that it might be nice to have a cheesecake pan that would let me do half and half or even more varieties – while cooking! It’d be nice to sometimes have multiple varieties for a party without making a bunch of huge cheesecakes. He found an awesome pan and yes I had to have it. I’d also been eyeing this mini cheesecake pan for ages. I figured since I was already ordering one, I had an excuse to order the other. Free shipping… it’s an excuse I tell ya. :) I can’t wait to use them!

Hopefully next week I have more exciting things to share. I can’t wait to hear how your week was! Have a wonderful weekend and a merry Christmas! :)