I will admit that this year I am a tad bit bah humbug…just kind of a procrastinator with a little lack of Xmas spirit. And I don’t know what to blame it on…the house is decorated all cute, my Comm. Center is a winter wonderland and you all know how much I love to cook and entertain, however I just can’t get my butt in gear this year. For example, I just started my Xmas shopping on Friday and normally if I started that late I would be in a mini-panic right now but I am kind of lackadaisical and have an “ah fuck it,” attitude.

However, the cooking show must go on, right? Last week one of my night shifters came into my office and asked to speak to me. I thought for sure she was going to tell me she changed her mind and that she was going into law school next semester and since I love her that was going to break my heart. However, what she wanted to talk about was way more serious…she wanted to know why the day watch folks always got my baked goods and the night time gang never even got to see them. Although I wanted to tell her that the day shift was a bunch of cookie hoarders (haha love you guys) I didn’t. I told her I would make it up to her this week.

So cooking confession #1-I did it again. Yet another recipe where I didn’t read all of the instructions prior to beginning the cooking. So I bought the ingredients for Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Ginger Cookies and last night I started making the dough with the expectation that I would bring them to work today and hide them ALL day long and deliver them to my night time gang at 1800 when they came to work. However, about halfway into the recipe I read the caveat “cookie dough must sit for at least an hour and up to 1 day,” well isn’t that great since I started the recipe at 2100 and it was getting to be way past my bedtime so the thought of waiting an hour made my eyes heavy. So I confessed my flaws today at work to the gang and promised to come through tonight.

After work tonight I ran my 3 miles and then hit the kitchen. These cookies are actually pretty fun to make. I made the dough yesterday and you mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in the mixer. And then you add the 2 together and put them in plastic wrap and put the dough in the oven. Tonight I took the dough out of the oven and it was kind of a rock hard play dough texture and I thought hmm there is no way in hell I am going to be able to mold this dough around a peanut butter cup without smashing it to smithereens (yes that is the technical cooking term). However, the dough becomes more pliable in your hands as it gets warm and you are actually able to mold it around the peanut butter cups. They cook in the oven for 12-14 minutes, cool on a wire rack for 5 and then you dust them with powdered sugar. They have a great spicy flavor from the ginger, cinnamon and molasses, a great texture from the peanut butter cup and a light sweetness from the powdered sugar. They are actually really different and very enjoyable. They make actually make it into my Xmas cookie repertoire…oh that’s right I don’t have a Xmas cookie repertoire….so this might be my first entry haha.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday season and remember to enjoy your family and friends, say a toast to good health and good fortune and lets bring in 2012 already.