Holing up in the Kitchen

Gingerbread cookies (recipe here)

I spent yesterday evening in the kitchen, staying toasty warm and enjoying the pungent smells of spices. The place was clean for once because I spent the afternoon tidying and washing dishes. So of course all I could think of was messing it up again. I think I love a clean kitchen just for the opportunity to create chaos again.

Buttermilk biscuits on the way to the freezer

I may have picked out the very messiest recipes to make--the ones that require multiple bowls, lots of flour, and dipping my hands right into dough. I baked up 3 dozen gingerbread cookies, which made the house smell amazing. I also made a quadruple batch of buttermilk biscuits for freezing. I love having homemade biscuits in the freezer for an easy, warm winter breakfast.

Brie cheese, all for me

In other wonderful food news, my mom gave me one of my Christmas presents early! She had surgery last week and while she's recovering well, she's not allowed to be out and about for many weeks. She did some of her shopping early and since this present is perishable, I get to have it now. I asked for brie cheese--it's a splurge and K doesn't like it, so we never really buy it.

I fell in love with brie when I was living in Amsterdam. I used to stop in the grocery and buy a big wedge of brie and some bread. Then I'd bike down along the Amstel River until I was out of the city, surrounded by farms and the occasional windmill. There was a church in the middle of all of this low-lying, canal-strewn farmland. It had a high steeple and a bench in front facing the river. I'd sit there watching the river traffic and eat my picnic lunch. I know I couldn't have been too far outside of Amsterdam, but I felt like I was in a world away from everything. I loved that quiet place between the river and the church, surrounded by lilacs and strangers.

(Thanks ever so much for the present, Mom!)