The Christmas that almost wasn't...

Happy day after Christmas everyone!  I hope you and all of yours had a relaxing, fun, and food-filled, cruelty free holiday.  For those of you living in flood and weather stricken areas, my heart and thoughts go out to you.  I hope you are safe and not too much damage was done.

Here in Orange County, California, we are just not used to this kind of weather.  And in the area where I live, well, the ground just couldn't take any more rain!

Thanks to the hard work and determination of the firefighters, neighbors, volunteers, family, and friends, the majority of the damage in my neighborhood was relegated to the roads.  A few houses and cars didn't fare as well, but as far as I know, no person or pet was seriously injured.

This is the road/bridge out of town near my house. 4 hikers went missing, but they were found, cold and wet, but okay on Tuesday morning.

Wednesday...same road.  I have seen a few news stories that state 2 persons were killed on the roads during this storm.  My heart goes out to the families of those that lost loved ones.

At the entrance to the road into my neighborhood...the mud pile was over 6 feet high!  Thanks to the quick hardwork of the county, the bulldozers were able to clear a path out (and in!) even though I was too scared to drive through.  I opted to park down the way at the elementary school and hike home through the mud.

This is a picture from Downtown Laguna Beach, across the street from where I work.  This water was pouring over the street into our parking lot.  I've never seen anything like it.

Most of the roads in and out of my house, and to my work have been closed for most of the week.  Turning my normally 45 minute commute into a 2 to 3 hour ordeal in each direction.

Add in the fact that the electricity would go in and out every couple of hours during the whole week, and well you can probably imagine that I didn't get to do much of my holiday baking or cooking this year.

Thankfully, we were able to head out of town and spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our families and forget about the mess for awhile.

Maybe New Year's will be dryer...

Candy Cane Bark

Chocolate and peppermint. A holiday combo made in heaven.



Candy Cane Bark
24 oz (680g) semi sweet chocolate chips (2 bags)
4 oz (116g) parowax (1 block)
10 oz (288g) crushed candy canes (24 normal sized canes), divided
1 tablespoon peppermint extract

Melt chocolate chips and parowax in a double boiler. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or wax paper. Mix about three quarters of the candy canes and peppermint extract into the chocolate. Spread half of the mixture on each of the baking sheets. Sprinkle the remaining candy canes on the top of the chocolate. Allow to cool completely (you can put it in the fridge.) Once completely hardened and cooled, break into pieces and package for gift giving!

And so it begins...Part 2

Thanksgiving is behind us, and for most of us that means...IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME! With only 23 days left before the big guy stuffs his big belly down the chimney, and even less time before we have to package up those cookies and treats for loved ones far, far away, it's time to start prepping for the holiday baking season!

It really is my most favorite time of the year. This week, I will bring out the decorations and create a few different Christmas Music stations on Pandora to keep me in the spirit. I'll be wearing my jingle bell earrings and santa hat to work, but most importantly I will be getting together my lists and recipes for my favorite holiday treats, as well as try out some new recipes to share.

So I invite you all to don that tacky sweater, and head out to your local dollar store, and stock up on cello bags, trays, baskets and gift tags, to get the best bang out of your buck when it comes to home baked gift giving this year!

This year at the Dollar Tree I scored 25 packs of Cello Bags for $1 a piece. I am foregoing baskets and tins this year, and opted for the cute Christmas trays instead. Yep, $1 a piece! A few packs of Christmas themed Zipper bags, and a couple of packs of gift tags and this girl is DONE with her Christmas shopping!

You see, my entire family has decided to give up presents this year, except for the little children, of course. So instead of stressing out about what useless thing-a-ma-jig to get for cousin so and so, I can concentrate on pumping out the sugary goodness!