A photo Christmas

My Christmas should be experience by the photos that were taken that day/weekend:

 

Merry Christmas

New Baked Good: December

I found this fun little recipe from a cookbook that belongs to my sister (and somehow ended up in my apartment this holiday season...) It's a Gooseberry Patch cookbook called Christmas Cookies. Just flipping through the pages, the recipes seemed pretty easy. So before our family get-together at Grandma's this year, I whipped one up that was totally delicious:

Carmelitas
What you need:
18-oz. tube refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
6-oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
32 vanilla-caramels, unwrapped
1/4 c. half-and-half

How to make it:
Slice cookie dough 1/4-inch thick; place slices in the bottom of an ungreased 9"x9" baking pan. Pat to make an even crust. (For the life of me, I could not find and 18-oz. tube of cookie dough, so I got a 36-oz. tub of it and spread half of it evenly in a pan instead)
Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes. (I took mine out at 22 minutes because I was baking in a glass fish and it was already turning brown) Let cool slightly; sprinkle with chocolate chips and set aside.
Melt caramels and half-and-half together in a double-boiler over hot water. (This is the only semi-complicated/time-consuming part) Spread caramel mixture on top of chocolate chips.
Refrigerate for one to two hours; cut into squares.

Home sweet home?

We are indeed back in Michigan. Squatting at our friends' house until we can get our furniture and move into our apartment, which we will have the keys for Monday. It feels so weird to be here right now. A weird I can't even describe. Maybe I'm just in shock of the drastic changes of events in my life over the last few weeks. Maybe I'm entering a honeymoon of being back in the United States. Or maybe I've just been changed forever and this is how I am going to be from now on?

Who knows? All I know is... it feels bittersweet to be home.