It took a while and a few pairs of my Auntie Ann's hand knit socks, but I think my feet have finally thawed out.  We here in Toronto (and most of southern Ontario) were hit with an ice storm that lasted a few days and knocked the power out...nearly 40 hours without electricity and heat for my family.  As the temperature in the house dropped, we piled on the layers of clothing.  We spent the evenings by candlelight, snuggling under blankets talking, reading and listening to the radio.  Even the cat was cold.  A week later, some are still without power.  I feel very fortunate.  

We haven't had our Christmas dinner yet.  When most of my family came down with the flu, we decided to postpone it until New Year's Day.  This is a Christmas we won't soon forget!  But....onwards and upwards, right?  There is the little matter of my "12 Days of Christmas" posts to attend to....over the next week I am going to continue to post those for you.  Take a peek Dear Reader....many of the "12 Days" can be made throughout the year. 

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas.

Every December, a gang of us rent a chalet for a weekend for some downtime before the madness of Christmas is upon us.  This year, 24 of us went to Killbear Provincial Park, near Parry Sound, Ontario.  A great group of friends and for the first time, my niece and her family came along.

We played games, had a campfire, tobogganed, and had a visit from Santa!  The magic of the red suit.....Noah had spent all day with Santa and didn't realize it!

And now back to reality, Dear Reader.  Happy shopping and wrapping....only a few days left to get it all done!  The 12 Days of Christmas have begun....take a peek under "Celebrations"

Well here it is December 1st.....Christmas is 24 days from now and I am officially feeling stressed out by the amount of things I have to accomplish in what seems like an impossibly short period of time.  So, this morning, over a cup of coffee,  I plotted out all the things to be done one day at a time on the calendar and feel much better for the scheduled sanity that I have created.  Let the madness and mayhem begin!  I'm ready.....I think.  And to help you good people out, the 12 Days of Christmas special will start next week.  Maybe you will see something that strikes your fancy - a hostess gift to make or a creative way to fold napkins for your table.   That's all the hints you're getting!

Since it is officially cookie season, I thought we had better get on with it.  This recipe was given to me years ago by the wife of my former boss.  She called them "Eileen's Oatmeal Cookies" which, with no disrespect to her, doesn't do them justice. My good friend Tom calls them "Magic Love Cookies" and that name has stuck.  The cinnamon, cloves and butterscotch chips fill you with a cozy warmth perfect for this time of year.  You can make them as big or small as you like...today's batch made 36.  

Magic Love Cookies

1 cup Crisco 
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups quick cooking oatmeal
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pkg butterscotch chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Beat Crisco, sugars, eggs, and vanilla together until creamy.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves.  Mix until combined.  On lowest speed of your mixer, stir in oatmeal.  Finally, add the butterscotch chips and stir to combine.

Drop by rounded tablespoonful onto parchment lined baking sheets.  Allow enough room between them as they will spread!  I put 9 on each sheet.  Bake for 12-14 minutes until flattened, and golden.  They will be quite soft when taken from the oven.  Don't worry...they're ok.  They will firm up as they cool.  Once cooled a bit, move to rack to cool completely.  Enjoy with a glass of milk.