What a year!
2022 was busy! We all worked hard: AJ and a colleague launched a special project to help give kids in her school a fresh start, Lolo learned many tricks and skills (including picking something up and bringing it to your hand from a distance), and I attended 10,000,000 meetings and drank 50,000,000 cups of coffee.
We are very happy to be celebrating Christmas and winding down the year!
Lolo donned her Christmas pajamas and hat to stay warm in the cold and rain:
We put up our Charlie Brown tree, and assorted festive decorations:
The stockings were hung by the bookcase with care:
Along with Pickles' and her mice friends' stockings:
We put Momma Arave's Christmas Bough in its place of honor:
And AJ made this nice little display of lights and paper crafts on the living room bookcase:
On Christmas Day, we opened presents and played with our new toys, and Susie came over for a delicious dinner of black chickpea curry with braised spinach.
On the 29th, Susie came over for a Christmas/New Year's cookie baking extravaganza. We made three different cookies:
Ok, the last one is a little bit of a cheat -- we baked up some dough I froze when I made a batch of these for Halloween.
Pick your apron!
Ready the cookie cutters, the powdered sugar duster, and the jam!
Knead the spitzbuben dough!
While the spitzbuben dough rests in the fridge, bake up the shortbread! You need sustenance!
Refreshed, and looking stylish in the Lucha Libre apron!
Deploy maximum power Puppy Dog Eyes in attempt to get butter!
Mix the gochujang (Korean fermented red chili paste) with butter!
Mix up the caramel cookie dough! Beg for butter!
Blop in the gochujang-butter!
Swirl!
Swirl!
Put giant balls of dough on the cookie sheet!
Take giant six-inch swirly cookies out of the oven!
Give up on getting any butter!
While gochujang cookies cool, roll the spitzbuben dough and get cutting!
Throw them in the oven! When they're cool, put jam on the bottom-half cookies and dust powdered sugar on the top-half cookies!
Assemble cookies!
Admire the fruits of your labor! And try not to eat them all at once!
For New Year's, we'll have a toast with Neighbors Jonny and Dustin before they go to a fancy event, and then we'll hunker down under piles and piles of blankets as a big rain storm rages outside.
And on New Year's Day, AJ will make her famous black eyed peas for luck, with collard greens and biscuits. And I, at least, will continue to hunker down under piles and piles of blankets as the rain continues.
We hope your New Year's will also be warm, and that your 2023 gets off to a bright start!
Happy New Year to you from all of us on Mars!!
