This weekend, my daughter and will start The First Big Batch of sugar cookie dough. We use the recipe from this site called Best Sugar Cookies, made with cream cheese. It will get divided and frozen for future thawing/baking/decorating. We'll also make lemon thumbprints to send now to my ailing grandfather.

Other than that? Just sustainance. Polenta, some roasted Brussels sprouts, a frittata. Hermit cookies to eat now.

Tonight, spaghetti with bacon, peas and a bit of sour cream. 'Cause I have a sore throat and I'm being self-indulgent.

Tomorrow I'm stocking up for a lot of holiday parties, lunches, etc. Sunday I'm making a fruit cake for the first time. I'm using a recipe my sister-in-law had great success with, Free Range Fruitcake from Alton Brown.

This weekend I am taking it easy as the past 5 days I have made 8 pounds of granola, 15 pounds of fruitcake from the recipe my mother-in-law made and sold when my husband was a kid, a batch of hot chocolate mix to go with the marshmallows that will be made on Monday, 75 popcorn balls and a batch of divinity!! Oh, on Sunday I do have to make 2 batches of cookies to take to the local airforce base for the wives club to give to all the airman on base. Next week is a breeze with a batch of caramels (250 in the batch to cut and wrap) and 3 batches of marshmallows. Then all this will be packed up and shipped off to family and friends. Then I am done until next year!!!!!!!

I have cooked for reheating barbacoa because it always tastes better the next day. We have a party Saturday night and on Sunday, I plan to make a batch of ginger snap dough for the freezer. It will be chicken or beef on the grill if it stays warm during the day.

I will be picking my first batch of kale for salad and sauteing this weekend. It's growing just fine in a raised bed. I also have lettuce and shallots. The herbs are still in good shape so i count my blessing. Thanks for the sugar cookie recipe suggestion. Good to know it freezes well.

naan breakfast pizzas...again:) http://www.abcdsofcooking.blogspot.com/2012/11/naan-breakfast-pizza.html

I'll be kicking off my week of cooking for my 16th annual tree trimming party. White Chocolate Peppermint bark, as well as a milk chocolate version, will be made on Sunday.

I've been using this Food Network Recipe for years: . http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/white-chocolate-bark-with-peppermint-stick-recipe/index.html

Quinoa-stuffed acorn squash and homemade pizza for sure. I'm thinking about making a bread pudding with cranberry orange pound cake (not homemade) as well, but that might not happen.

I'm going to try making "impossible" (that is, self-crusting) pumpkin pie cupcakes for a holiday gathering. Let's see how it goes.

Merm, great minds think alike, I'm planning on stuffed acorn squash as well! Although I'm thinking of stuffing with a kasha-based mixture featured in a Tasting Table recipe recently.

@babygrace - Kasha sounds delicious as well. I have some in my pantry in fact ...

Simple dinner tonight - homemade pork and cabbage dumplings tossed with soy sauce, chile oil and garlic, and a quick vegetable stir fry. Baked oatmeal, a mushroom tart, and lots of Christmas cookies are also in the plan. After running across this collection of recipes yesterday, I really want to try out cinnamon and kirsch star cookies, and the raspberry jam sandwich cookies, and the aniseseed crescents.

Busy weekend with little kid Christmas events....so just a batch of cacciatore on Saturday!

Been cooking up a storm today. Made chipotle mashed potatoes and smothered chicken breasts, both were great!

Ran out and bought a candy thermometer so I could start experimenting with that caramel recipe that was posted earlier this week!

That, and a pork roast.

Right now I have turkey stock at a simmer. Half will be reduced to a glaze, the other half to be frozen to make turkey chowder sometime next week. In my crock pot is sausage & beef chili. And I'm about to make sugar cookie dough so a bunch of kids can make cookies later this afternoon. Perhaps tomorrow I'll make some New Mexico green chili in the crock pot. I promise I'm not feeding an army, just my family! I'm doing a huge cook this weekend so I can toss dinners in the freezer to break out & eat over the next few weeks when I'm too busy to think of what to cook.

House smells pretty darn good right now. And it's toasty warm, contrasting the pretty snow falling.

Yesterday was boyfriend's 30th but he has a big training event all weekend so I made his favourite 'healthy' foods: turkey spinach burgers, sweet potato fries and roast broccoli. I also made Smitten Kitchen cheesecake brownies for tonight - they're tiny but so rich. I think tomorrow will be veggie fajitas to use up the masses of produce in our fridge.

I drove all over town looking for Ginger People crystallized ginger chips for this recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Ginger-Spice-Cookies-103156

One year I tried just cutting up crystallized ginger chunks and not only was it more work but the cookies didn't turn out as well. So I suck it up and pay the $9 per bag.

This year's batch will be rolled in orange zest and sugar. Hope the tweak turns out!

I'm making your savory curry and coconut granola! And more of my current lunch addiction--my sloppy gloppy crisp and crunchy tofu reuben sandwich.

I'm making your savory curry and coconut granola! And more of my current lunch addiction--my sloppy gloppy crisp and crunchy tofu reuben sandwich.

I'm making your savory curry and coconut granola! And more of my current lunch addiction--my sloppy gloppy crisp and crunchy tofu reuben sandwich.

Mini English Muffin Pizzas tonight (home alone). Tomorrow I'm making either eggs or Rasin French toast with Maple Glazed Bacon for brunch and Chicken/Mushroom/Spinach Enchiladas for dinner. Just made a batch of trail mix and snack mix for this week for the husband since I'll be out of town (Louisiana) for work. Might make him a lasagna too.

We had a birthday lunch! Spinach, mushroom, and (vegan) ricotta lasagne with garlic and herb bread, a green salad with pears and caramelised hazelnuts, a Tunisian carrot salad, and a hummingbird cake. Delicious :)

I'm spending my weekend making rainbow cookies. They are time consuming but sooo worth it!

I need to get started on some holiday baking. I found these adorable cookies that look like birch twigs. I'll be making these this weekend.

http://waitingforgateau.com/cookies.html#birchtwigs

Planned some holiday baking this weekend but both dh & I have been under the weather for a couple days. Thankful for my freezer but tired of soups, I cleaned out the fridge for a quick light brunch yesterday...rescued the last of the fresh spinach & arugula along with some green onions and half of a lone hot pepper. Tossed it all in a hot skillet w/some garlic & olive then added eggs. Yum, dh was happy. Fresh fruit provided a snack between naps but we bot slept through dinner. Today will be another advienture.

Tempering chocolate to dip truffles...and I've been making candy for the past week.

I made batches of brownies and rollout sugar cookies for my teens and their friends.

Right now I have a huge pot of spaghetti simmering. My freezer is bare and we have a busy month ahead.