Merry Christmas!

Me and the cold I cannot shake are off for a long holiday weekend.

Merry Christmas to All!

May you have lots of love, peace, and holiday glows.

Sparkles

A friend and I were talking the other day and she commented that she thinks a lot of people never get to experience "those sparkles" in love. She noted she'd never had them with her first husband and was totally surprised when she first experienced them, with her current husband.

I completely agree with her. Sparkles are rare - and I think that rarity makes the lure of sparkles particularly strong. Plus, they're addictive. They're fizzy and whooshy and giddy and make us feel wonderful and when we're feeling that way we want more, More, MORE!!

But there is a dark side to sparkles.
Sparkles are also deceptive.
Sparkles can totally get away from us.
We think of them as being triggered by something external - the right person, circumstance, or activity - but sometimes, sparkles fly for no better reason than our own wishful thinking. Sometimes, we just *want* them into being.

Which would be great ... except ... self-created sparkles are false ones. They appear to have all the zip and zing of the true ones, but they don't have the energy source to be sustained.

Proper sparkles create a self-perpetuating energy loop. (Mine feed off of his, which in turn energizes me, allowing his to feed off mine …)
But false sparkles have nothing reciprocal to feed off of, so they either fizzle out or they turn and begin to consume their creator.

I love sparkles, I really do.
But they're tricky little devils.
Handle With Care.

Updates

It's the holidays and I'm nutsy busy, focused on real life as opposed to blogland, and really just kind of spinning like a top.
So for now, all you get is bullets...  ;-)

-Five people jumped into the cookie pile late.
    Autumn in jeans
    Dave the Rave -posted here
    Kitty
    morningstar
    Sarah the reader -posted here

-BG's latest attempt to quit smoking is working.
He's on the last level patch and much less wound-up.
    YAY!
This made my boobs sit up and sing the Hallelujia chorus.
Until his next visit, anyhow...
*wince*
Now they're just singin' the (black and) blues...

-I Found The Walmart Bag!!!!!!
Just in time for the "12 dozen cookies, in bags of 6" swap.

-I have a new UPS man.
(I think the old one requested a transfer...)

-Not only can I still not bind my own breasts, his response to my efforts has gone from twitching lips to outright mockery.
(I distinctly heard, "phhhhttt!", too!)

No one from FetLife has contacted me to say that I sound enchanting and they dooo wish I would sign up.  *le sigh*

-The tape worms don't work...
Maybe they're over-sanitized??
;-p

Enjoy the December Madness, y'all!

Thank You All

Thanks for playing along, for reading, for commenting, for taking the time to support each other and help make this so very much fun.

And, of course,
for THE COOKIES!!!
(and pies, and pastries, and savouries, and breads, and...)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go draw recipes out of a hat, because I Just Can't Decide!!!!!

The Great Online Cookie Exchange Extravaganza - 2011 Edition

(Once again, there are a couple of non-cookie recipes in the mix.
And again I ask, do you really care, as long as it tastes good?)

I DO like doing this! It's such a fun way to meet new people.
This year our ranks swelled to 40 and we doubled our international participation. The bakers are listed at the end of this post - please go check out all the recipes. (We want everyone to feel warm and fuzzy so they come back again next year, after all!)

Just bear in mind that there were no time frames for *when* during the day we'd post. So make allowances for all possible time zones worth of Dec 7th before you start leaving, "HEY! Where are the cookies???" comments.  ;-D

Get out the plates and Enjoy!

Jz's Cookie Selection 2011:

I've seen the recipe call for raisins or golden raisins but I prefer to hold out for the dried currants. And I cut rectangles, not diamonds, cuz my cutting skills are disastrous -- but theses cookies taste fantastic in any shape!  

Zaletti

3/4 C dried currants
2 T dark rum (I loathe rum, so I substitute freely. OJ, brandy, water...)
2/3 C butter, softened
2/3 C sugar
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 egg
2 t finely shredded orange peel
1/2 C yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
     coarse sugar or granulated sugar

Combine currants and rum (or whatever liquid thing you chose) in a small bowl and let stand for 30 minutes.

Beat butter in a large mixing bowl at medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 2/3 C sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined. Then add the egg and orange peel until combined. Beat in cornmeal and as much of the flour as your mixer can handle. With a wooden spoon, stir in the currant mixture and any remaining flour.

Divide dough in half and wrap each portion in plastic wrap. Chill the dough in the fridge for 3 hours or until dough is easy to handle.

One portion at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until you have a 12" x 8" rectangle. Cut the rectangle diagonally, making diamond shapes 3" long and 1 1/4" wide. (Or whatever roughly uniformly-sized shapes you can manage.)
Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Transfer cookies to a rack for cooling.
Makes about 54 tasty little cookies.

selkie's Cookie Selection 2011:

my friend selkie, "daughter of the sea" has been on blogging hiatus for (far too long) a while but she's always ready to join in the fun with a yummy recipe!

Cinnamon Pecan Shortbread

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup golden brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup cornstarch

1-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, room temperature

1 large egg white, beaten to blend with 1 tbsp water (for glaze)
36 pecan halves
Granulated sugar for garnish

DIRECTIONS

In large bowl, whisk first six ingredients, up to salt, to blend. Add butter. Mash with back of fork until coarse meal forms. Work dough with fingertips until smooth; shape into disk. Wrap in plastic, chill until firm but not hard, 30 minutes.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls; arrange on two baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Cover bottom of drinking glass with plastic; press each ball into 2-inch round. Cut with scalloped cookie cutter if desired. Brush with glaze; top with pecan half and sprinkle with raw sugar.
Bake in 325F oven, rotating pans halfway through cooking, until tops turn golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
Makes 36 cookies.

Please check out the other yummy contributions from:
Aisha
Alice
Ally
Another Suburban Mom
Ashly Star
Beau
Beth
Conina
Elysia
greengirl
Hedone
Jack & Jill
His wyld rose
Infidelity Chronicles
Kirsti
Krissy
lil
Linda Long
Little Monkey
Lola!
Mijena
mouse
Naughty Kitty
nilla
ponderouspet
ronnie
Rose
Ryan
Sara
selkie (her recipe here, her blog here)
Sephani Page
Serenity
shadesofblue
striving for peace
sin
Tempting Sweets
The Missus
undercovermetamorphosis
Viemoira

Quote Of The Week (Dec 1st Edition)

"That's it, use that sexy, slutty, tawdry, amazing, wet, talented, slutty mouth on me. ... Yes, I know I used "slutty" twice ... but I think it bears repeating."

He really needs to stop making me laugh in these somewhat delicate situations...