getting to goodies

Better later than never, I'm finally getting started with some holiday baking.  I've been off work for over a week now but just haven't gotten the gumption up to get started.

Today, I made some Hershey pretzel treats.  Now, you're supposed to make these with kisses but I now only use hugs.  I found that the kisses just never melted for me, properly.  Maybe Canadian kisses have too much wax in them, I don't know.  When I use hugs (or Candy Cane kisses - any of the white chocolate kisses), they turn out fabulously.  I have even had good luck the last 5 years or so to get square pretzels at the Bulk Barn.  These are easy to do (I imagine it would be fun to do them with kids) and they are always a huge hit on a cookie plate.  The biggest part of the job is always peeling the hugs but this year it didn't take too long.  I'm  hoping that having these finished will get me in the mood for real, serious cooking baking.  We'll see.

In previous years, I did a lot of holiday baking.  Two years ago, we were getting ready to move so I didn't do much.  In 2013, between the big ice storm and my getting really good and sick with the flu, I did even less than I had the previous year.

I have a list of things I'd like to accomplish in the kitchen before the big day arrives but I'm planning to not beat myself up if I don't hit everything on the list.  My goal for this holiday season is to relax and enjoy it.  If I can get to everything I want to do, great, if I don't.  It's not the end of the world and the only person who'll know about what didn't happen will be me!