And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?
It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

—Dr. Seuss

Merry Christmas to all.

My family and Nati visited me in the city just for a couple of days since I’m still on service this week. Even though we’re not used to a city Christmas, we made the most of it, and I was absurdly grateful to have company. The best part of the holidays are being together, by far.
We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner out, eating cozy food in a very cozy restaurant, The Commerce Inn.
Today, we had Christmas lunch at my apartment, all 6 of us + Mike’s puppy. I had never hosted that many people before, but with some folding chairs, patience, and understanding about bumping elbows, we had plenty of room. We had beet crispbread, vegetarian Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, pickled cucumbers, cranberry sauce, and brussels sprouts. The meal was rounded out with panettone from Eataly and a win from the Celtics. Beautiful.

I hope you are all able to be with the ones you love this holiday season.

This cute little box of creations is my imagining of a gingerbread cabinet of curiosities.
They’re all sculpted out of sugar paste or construction gingerbread, then hand painted.
It took forever—I’ve been on 6×12 hour shifts this whole month, so making this involved staying up until 3am multiple nights in a row. Brutal, but I’m rather proud of my miniatures.
Merry, merry.

Christmas, previously:

Cakes:
Alpine dreams come true: gingerbread village complete with ski lift and chalet atop a fluffy mountain cake.
A shaggy little number: coconut cream cheese cake with cranberry curd filling.
Indulgent, gorgeous, and so so French: chestnut, chocolate, and cream croquembouche au craquelin
The cutest little pink number with an even cuter, dinky reindeer: gingerbread house on an orange spice and chocolate cake.
My pride and joy, the most elaborate cake on the blog: la souche de Noël.
A different, more whimsical take on a tree cake: this eggnog-filled, bauble-bedecked Christmas tree.
Golden and gleaming, an almond and orange spice cake.
A classic: red velvet with a winter woodland theme.
The fluffiest of cakes, a chocolate and peppermint cake with marshmallow frosting.
Oldie but a goodie: chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with peppermint buttercream.

Cookies:
A gingerbread lantern, lit from within.
A gorgeous mix of textures with cream cheese holly cookies, chocolate pistachio shortbread, and maple/nutmeg/rye trees.
A box full of brownies, coffee bean cookies, maple almond swirls, and lady grey orange sugar cookies.
Simple but effective pistachio and cranberry butter cookies.
Super intricate and crunchy maple and black pepper gingersnaps.
Luster-dust highlighted sugar cookie Christmas trees.
Very grown-up chocolate orange Linzer cookies.
Festive eggnog sugar cookies, decorated with royal icing and sprinkles.
Twists on the classic: honey spice and dark chocolate sugar cookies, perfect for cutting into shapes.
Pepparkakor with lemon royal icing, decorated with mehndi-inspired swirls.
Chocolate peppermint macarons… Macarons are still my nemesis.
Classic Linzer cookies with different fillings.
Maple, nutmeg, and rye sugar cookies, dressed all in winter white.
Chocolate, sour cherry, and coconut cookies; grapefruit butter cookies; and dark chocolate pecan snowcaps, all crammed into one post.
Cinnamon toast crunch marshmallow treats, chocolate peppermint shortbread, Russian teacakes, 5-spice snickerdoodles, another post bursting with recipes.
Whimsical peppermint marshmallow ropes; not cookies per se, but great for gifting.

Construction Gingerbread
makes 1 half-sheet

ingredients:
98 grams shortening
224 grams molasses
84 grams granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
392 grams all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
30 grams whisked egg

directions:
Melt shortening, molasses, sugar, and salt together gently in a microwave.
Whisk together, then add flour, spices, and egg.
Gently stir just until the dough comes together.
Roll out to 1/4″ thickness and cut into desired shapes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 10-12 minutes depending on size of the shape.
As soon as the pieces come out of the oven, re-cut them to make the edges sharp.
Decorate as desired!