Fa la la la la...

Part 1: The Abominable Marshmallow

I hope those who follow the Marshmallow (he's blushing) haven't been missing him too much around here! To make up for it, I can't help but share these adorable photos of my doggy love.


You're probably wondering what kind of shenanigans would bring about this sleepy face, snuggled in a warm blanket;
(aka the cutest face ever)

Well, it involved a whole lotta this;


Which causes this:

also known as the Abominable Marshmallow Dog

And my favorite, the icicle stache:

Is it sad that he has a designated "melting spot?" We put a towel down in front of the heater in the bathroom and tell him it's "melting time" hehehe.

How can I not love him?

Just had to give a big shout out to the Marshmallow this week. He's been extra snugly lately during cold winter nights!


And on to... Part 2: Cookie exchange cookie making!!

I made hazelnut crisps and peppermint wafers. (To make regular cookie recipes gluten free, I substitute the flour 1 for 1 with Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour plus a tea of xanthan gum).

Okay, funny story time. Picture this: I pulled out all my ingredients for the hazelnut cookies and got started mixing my ingredients. I had my two eggs on the counter, and had just put the first two ingredients in my mixing bowl (butter + brown sugar) to begin. In my right hand, I have my trusty hand-held Kitchen Aid mixer and in my left hand, my beautiful OXO mixing bowl. As I began mixing, I saw out of the corner of my eye one of the eggs about to roll off the counter! In an almost cartoon-esque scene, I went to stop the rolling egg with the elbow of the arm holding my hand mixer. This meant the hand-mixer came out of the bowl (while still on) and was splattering brown sugar and butter mixture all over my kitchen! As I realized this was happening, I put the mixer back in the bowl and tried to grab the still-rolling egg with my left hand that had been holding the mixing bowl steady. However, with no hand holding the bowl, the bowl started twirling across the counter as the mixer (talk about an itchy trigger finger) was still going, dragging my right arm along with it! So you can imagine me... the mixer going in my right hand with the bowl twirling across the counter ready to drag the rest of my body with it, brown sugar and butter mixture flying everywhere, and my left hand trying to reach across my right hand for the getaway egg in one big frantic scramble while I screamed "No! Help! HELPPPP!!!"

Needless to say, my husband ran onto the scene to find an egg splattered on the floor, butter + brown sugar everywhere, and me, waist down collapsed onto the counter. Why didn't I just turn off the mixer??? We may never know. It sort of reminds me of Nel's laundry detergent story, only much more pathetic.
♥J, you are not allowed to launch into a speech about how I should have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

After all was said and done, the cookies still turned out pretty awesome. This will be the first year my cookies will look good, taste good, AND have amazing packaging. I like to call it a triple threat ya'll.

I also like to call the cookie on the left Mr Peppermint Pants.

This post makes me want to sing "Joyyyyy to the world!!"