I was off and running with cookie-baking this morning. After kids were dropped off at school, Evan and I zoomed off to Costco and Fred Meyer for supplies.

Both Evan and I were a bit peaked by out Costco experience, so we split a pretzel and each got a berry smoothie. Why, you are surely asking yourself, did I buy my 20-month-old son his own berry smoothie? Well, I answer defensively, because the mocha freeze might have kept him awake at nap-time.

In any case, we eventually made it home, and after cleaning up purple goo from Evan, his car seat, the car, and myself, I started to think about actual baking.

But first, a couple interesting factoids:
- Star Wars III is now out on DVD.
- I got the very first container of holiday candy canes while at Fred Meyer; fresh off the pallet.
- Costco is selling three-packs of canned pumpkin and four-packs of sweetened condensed milk!
- Gas is down to $2.50 per gallon!
- The high temp in Anchorage today was 20 degrees F (that’s –7 C).

(Sometimes I reread my blog and think, “Is this actually my life?”)

Anyway, I’m fried from cookies. I never want to see another cookie as long as I live.

Today I made:
Peppermint snowballs (remind me never to again)
Dough for chocolate crinkles; will bake them tomorrow
Nanaimo bars
Dough for pepparkakar (does anyone know how it’s pronounced?)

What I still need:
A candy thermometer (for the fudge). (Thought I had one but was unable to find it even after turning the kitchen upside down.)

Added to the list:
Pumpkin cookies or bars (need to use that wonderful canned pumpkin!)

How many cookies I ate today: 3.

I think I’ll bag the Santa cupcakes and maybe even the chocolate chips. After I bake the dough that is currently chilling in the fridge, I’ll probably have enough. Though, I really wanted to do fudge…. Gotta get that candy thermometer!

Does anyone actually care about all this? I wanted to write about all the zany things that happened today, like assembling a dinner that was not going to be done cooking before the kids went to bed. Never mind. Sorry this is so boring, but I’m really tired.