Last minute Christmas baking

I was afraid that I wouldn't get any Christmas baking done at all this year. Last year we did without decorations, and this year I thought baking was the tradition that would go by the wayside. I was wrong, though. A few days before Christmas, my internal holiday baking timer went off, and I made some tasty Christmas treats.

First I tried my hand making caramel. I'd never done it before, but the recipe looked attainable. Sure enough, they turned out beautifully (Benjamin loved the result of my experiment). It looked so pretty as it cooked and the cream and sugary syrup swirled together.

We also made traditional gingerbread cookies. I love the colors of cloves, cinnamon, and ginger together. It's almost worth it to make gingerbread just to see that classy combination.

Little Man and I thoroughly enjoyed cutting out the cookies together. We used a variety of untraditional boyish shapes this year like footballs, cars, airplanes, fish, and frogs.

I also made some delectable white chocolate-cranberry cookies (photo and recipe coming soon). I packaged some of them in home made parchment paper bags which Little Man and I delivered. He was excited to meet all of our neighbors' dogs. : )

In addition to the goodies I made, we were given two plates of cookies as well as getting to enjoy my mom's yummy holiday treats. I'm beginning to think that maybe I could have skipped Christmas baking after all. : )