The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

My mini Christmas tree for what seems like a mini-amount of Christmas spirit. I am truly working on that. However, regardless of how little Christmas spirit I might have, I still will bake some Christmas cookies, Grandma Dorothy's poundcake, and anything else I might decide somebody else needs.

I came to the conclusion about a year ago that trying to make baked goods healthy (i.e. after about 10 attempts at healthy strawberry cake) is nearly an impossible task. If you are anywhere close to the south and you try to make strawberry cake without using strawberry jello, the people who eat it will not be impressed. Personally, when I bake I aim to please and make people smile, so I came to the conclusion that sometimes you just have to let go. A good lesson for me in life.

And with that, one of my favorite cookies for the Holiday season that breaks all my rules about not using hydrogenated oils.

Cinnamon Squares

Preheat oven to 350*

Melt in saucepan: 1/2 cup butter & 1/2 cup Crisco (yikes!)

Add to melted stuff: 1/2 cup dark brown sugar & 1/2 cup white sugar

Then mix in: 1 tsp. vanilla & 1 egg yolk (reserve egg white)

Add: 2 cups flour & 2 tsp. cinnamon.

Spread dough thin with hands onto cookie sheet. Beat egg whites until frothy and brush onto cookie dough. Sprinkle with sprinkles. The classic sprinkle is the non-pareils or sphere like sprinkles.

Bake 15 minutes and cut into squares while hot. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

for the love of tea....

I made this cute little tea cozy using this tutorial. It's for my mamacita for Christmas. We both LOVE our tea!

Banana Mango pancakes

Most people don't realize that tropical fruits are actually in season in the winter. If you live somewhere other than the continental United States you would be eating local if you made these delicious pancakes. If you don't, there is absolutely nothing local about it, so please forgive me. At least they still taste yummy.

Basic Pancakes (adapted from the original Joy of Cooking)

Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Gently mix the wet and dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. Small lumps are okay. Cook on a hot buttered/oiled griddle.

Serve with pure maple syrup and butter.

If adding mango and banana, sprinkle diced fruit on top of pancake before flipping it. Pictured above.