Advent - 2

Yesterday we had a goodly snowfall and it was a cold, wintry day.

I am not sure if I have made mention of it before but Nancy is one ferociously good baker. She makes the best cookies around. This time of year Nancy is always baking, she sells cookies, she takes cookies to the local stores for the staff in short she is a "lean, mean, baking machine"!

One of her great specialties is shortbread. She experimented for a long time with making them and, although I admit to being biased, I think she makes, by far, the best shortbread on the face if the earth. And I am not kidding.

She also makes cookies that contain a lot of spices - like Danish "Brunkager". Brunkager are thin, hard cookies with a spicy dough. If you have ever been in Northern Europe for this time of year you have probably noticed that gingery, spicy smell that just wafts around? Well that's what it smells like in our house.

This morning it was 10 degrees outside ( about -12 C for any Europeans..) at 5:30 am when I was taking the dogs out for their morning walk. It was a crisp, beautiful morning and the dogs were gratifyingly fast about their 'business' so I did not freeze my derriere off! When we came back into the house, I unleashed the hounds in the laundry room, took off my boots and opened the door into the rest of the house and I was hit by this heavenly odour of spicy baking. No, Nancy was not cooking - she was in bed. But the whole house smelled of Christmas cookies.

wow. It's no wonder i love this time of year.