• Christmas cookies, Day 12: Chocolate-dipped peppermint meringues

    Merry Christmas! I hope Santa brought you everything you asked for… but since he may have eaten all your cookies, I’ve got your back. And these are so good that they will make you smile even if you only got coal in your stocking. The key to the amazingness of these meringue cookies is crushed […]

  • Christmas cookies, Day 11: Mexican wedding cookies

    These cookies could really be made at any time of year, but they definitely say Christmas to me — whether you call them Mexican wedding cookies, Russian tea cakes or something else. I have never had any trouble with these before, but the first recipe I tried this year was a little problematic. So as […]

  • Christmas cookies, Day 10: Spritz

    It’s almost Christmas! Today I was going to give you cookies AND photos of 10 lords-(aka hot guys)-a-leaping, but it is surprisingly difficult to find photos of hot guys jumping. Instead, here is Knowshon Moreno leaping over a dude, and nine good-looking-guys-not-leaping: Matt Damon, Tom Brady (pre-Bieber hair) and Mark Sanchez, James Blake, Cristian de […]

  • Christmas cookies, Day 9: Peppermint patties

    Peppermint patties may be my favorite chocolate candy. So I had been wanting to make these homemade ones since I saw them in Gourmet magazine in 2007. And I finally had the chance! These are definitely not the quickest things to make. But they’re pretty fun and not terribly difficult, provided you have the right […]

  • Christmas cookies, Day 8: Gingerbread men

    I make gingerbread every year, partly because the little gingerbread men are so cute and partly because they are so delicious with pumpkin dip (recipe at the bottom). Yet every year I manage to lose the gingerbread recipe or forget which recipe I used before. I do remember that last year I used a mix […]

  • Christmas cookies, Day 7: Angel wings

    As you may know, I love vintage clothes. Especially my mother’s coats from the 70’s. So I thought I’d try a vintage recipe — from my grandmother’s 1964 edition of the Joy of Cooking. Apparently this recipe has sold “many a copy” of Joy of Cooking. Or at least it had in 1964. They are […]

  • Christmas cookies, Day 6: World peace cookies

    This is a perfect time of year to wish — like all good Miss America candidates — for world peace. These cookies are so named because Dorie Greenspan’s neighbor believes a daily dose of them would ensure world peace. I can’t disagree. We have a magical Giant near us (the supermarket, not, like, Grawp) that […]

  • Christmas cookies, Day 5: Chai shortbread

    On the fifth day of Christmas cookies, I give to you: easy, low-calorie shortbread. Ba-dom dom dom. Since the macarons from Day 4 are so high-maintenance, I wanted to give you a recipe that doesn’t require a lot of time in the kitchen. These don’t look super Christmas-y, but the spices are very festive. If […]

  • Christmas cookies, Day 4: Macarons

    We can’t all afford Blair Waldorf’s fabulous clothes. But you CAN make some of her favorite French macarons (if you are patient enough). These are different than (yummy) coconut blob macaroons. In fact, I am not entirely sure I had ever tasted one of this kind before. But they turned out surprisingly good, thanks to […]

  • Christmas cookies, Day 3: Boom chunkas

    So, are you getting in the holiday spirit yet? Baking any cookies? Going to cookie exchanges? Getting tangled in your Christmas lights? Yelling at people who take your space in the Nordstrom parking lot? Anything? Someone (ahem) got rid of our artificial Christmas tree — and the indoor lights were in the box. So we […]