It’s been a little slow on the blog, but I’ve been busy behind the scenes cranking out album designs!  I should have a new sample album on my doorstep any day now so I’ll be sharing pictures of that soon!  In the meantime I wanted to share a couple of fun pictures of my Christmas decorations and cookies I made last night!  We put our tree up a month ago…after I bought all the new stuff I just couldn’t wait!

Here’s our blinged out tree!  We got a new one so I had to get new ornaments and went a little overboard.  How do you like my unique topper?  I also love our stockings…notice Ally’s on the right?  I need to get a big bone to put in it…

Here’s a couple of the fun ornaments I got, and of course pink polka dotted ribbon:

Ryan had a cookie swap at his office so I got to try a new recipe I saw on Paula Dean’s show the other day.  They’re Peppermint Pinwheels!  Recipe posted below:

Peppermint Pinwheels

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter; softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 teaspoon red food coloring

powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

24 lollipop sticks

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together in another bowl.  Add egg and beat until incorporated.  Add the vanilla and peppermint extract.  Gradually add the dry mixture, beating until combined.  Remove half the mixture from the bowl.  Add food coloring, beating until fully combined.  In waxed paper, roll out dough to form a large rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick.  Repeat this step with the uncolored dough.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Tear out a sheet of waxed or parchment paper.  Sprinkle surface with powdered sugar to prevent sticking.  Very carefully, slide the red dough on top of the white dough.  Trim edges if uneven and patch if necessary.  Roll dough into a log, creating a swirl effect.  Place dough back in the refrigerator and let chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Slice the dough into 1/2-inch slices and place on a parchment lined sheet tray about 1-inch apart.  Place lollipop stick about 1-inch through the flat side of the dough.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

 **Ok, so, notes from a real person who made these, not a celebrity chef.  I didn’t want the whole cookie tasting too pepperminty, so I left out the peppermint extract until I pulled out some dough, then added it to half when I added the red food coloring.  I think this was a good idea!  Go me!  I’m not sure why you’re supposed to refrigerate the sheets for 2 hours.  They were easy to handle when I pulled them out (after 1 hour, I was impatient!) but they were so cold and hard that they didn’t roll up very well!  The dough cracked all over the place and it looked pretty horrible.  I just stuck it back in the fridge and hoped for the best.  The slices from the middle turned out best.  I think I wouldn’t refrigerate them so long so the dough was softer and easier to roll.  But I’ll definitely do them again!  Enjoy! **