Kitchen's awaiting...

With the holidays just around the corner, it's high time I start forcing myself to get into the spirit of things. It's strange how as a child you count down the days until Christmas and feel as if you're about to explode from anticipation. Nowadays, exploding sounds like it might make a nice respite from all the pressures of everyday life and holiday preparation...

I paint a grim picture. Actually, things aren't that bad here. It seems, however, each year that passes the holidays creep up on me again and I can't fathom that another year has gone by with such lightning speed.

Received the holiday issue of Gourmet last week and I'm enraptured with their cookie recipes. Thinking about making grasshopper squares, seven-layer Italian almond cookies (also known as 'rainbow cookies'), limoncello for the adult folks, candied citrus, and ginger syrup for the ultimate spicy sweet ginger ale. We'll also no doubt be whipping up multiple batches of the famous Yori Italian 'S' shaped lemon biscuit and perhaps cucchidati (shortbread stuffed with a fig-chocolate mixture).

I'm lacking in photos today. Here's a pic of my new kitchen, all clean and prettied up. It's a rare occasion when we can actually see the countertop amidst the scattered papers and random bowls and containers that gather on its surface.