Let The Christmas Baking Begin!

After a quick trip to the gym this morning (Ryder played on his own cheerfully for 40 whole minutes!!!) and a few other errands on base, we made headed home to make some holiday treats!

Ryder leaves the gym with me.
30 seconds later, 2 jets screamed by and he excited waved at Daddy. <3
After all, every airplane in the sky is 'Daddy.'

We'll get to taste the Apperson treats when we head out that direction next month. And, while there are a few traditional Enns and Mennonite recipes that I grew up with, I decided this year to try out some new ones and make our own family traditions. Special thanks to my sisters for motivating me. :)

So far, everything's been a great success, so I figured I'd share my first few experiments (thanks Pinterest) with you, in case you're looking for some new ideas as well. 

We began with Jam Filled Snowball Cookies...

Then for a bit of variety, Double Chocolate Biscotti.  Here I got creative and melted a handful of Andes mints in the oven and drizzled that hint of chocolate minty goodness over the warm biscotti. This is what I'm dunking in my current cup of holiday blend coffee. :)

 And I just pulled these Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies out of the oven. The recipe calls for icing drizzled over but I think that they're sweet enough as is, plus this will make them easier to stack and store. 

I do hope to make gingerbread men and prettily iced cut-out sugar cookies, but this as far as I am right now and either way, we'll have baking until Spring.