Ssssshush, I'm going to share a secret

Do you know about Pioneer Woman? She is my new favorite blogger and so much more. Evidently she's been quiet a sensation for awhile now. I'm just now finding her. She writes of her life on a working cattle ranch in rural Oklahoma with her husband, Marlboro Man, and her four children. But, it's so much more. She has just finished a book tour for her New York Times bestseller cookbook, Pioneer Woman Cooks.

I'm just sorry I missed her here in Dallas. Anyway, true to my compulsive self, I have

(a) run out to Borders and bought myself a copy,

(b) sent my best New Mexico kitchen friend a copy for Christmas, and

(c), drumroll,please, just finished preparing Fancy Macaroni myself to have here for the holiday weekend. It has bacon, onions and yummy cheeses like gruyere, parmesan(the good kind) and feta. I quickly slid it into the back fridge to bake for family Sunday dinner. Sampling was a sinful temptation.

This picture of the baked pan of sin is Ree's. Mine still needs to be baked, ok?

Sugar Love Affair Continues

Kid's Christmas parties have a new angle these days: a full-on cookie decorating station. Why wasn't this thought of 50 ( allow me the fudge on years there) years ago?

I would have been all over it. Anyway, yesterday right as you enter this fancy Christmas to-do a table laden with cookies and all the fixings was on our left.

I could have just eaten one each of the blanks.

But, dishes overflowing with creamy, colorful icing and little ramekins full of about twenty different choices of cookie amendments.
Zoe was super serious about her creation. That peppermint you see on the side stayed there for a separate treat.
See the little Christmas tree and stars? I want some of those for my stash. Mimi requested her own cookie to have for dessert after brunch. I ate the whole little bell loving every sugary bite.