Holidays – Made by Meghan

It’s that time of year again – which is seriously, seriously insane! Time to hang up and fill the Advent calendars that Michael and I made (click the link for the ‘making-of’ post) when we realized that a Christmas tree and living in a one-room cabin really didn’t go well together. We’re in a bigger place now – yay! for completed additions/renovations – but we still aren’t doing a tree this year (life is a little overwhelming, but hopefully 2024 will feel a little less schedule-driven).

As I have since 2016, I’ll share my #ChocolateForBreakfast advent treat shots/posts on my Instagram account, rather than spamming my blog feed. Though I now have Instagram feeding onto my Facebook page as well. But! Here is a screenshot of my December 1, 2023 treat!!

Desbarres Monte Grande 72% Guatemala. Chocolatiers are based in Ontario. Awards: Silver from the International Chocolate Awards in 2020 and 2022. Tasting notes (via the bar): caramel, banana, and citrus. Tasting notes (MCD): immediately fruit forward (the banana, I guess?) but quickly resolving into an almost pungent citrus, heavy on the lemon zest. Creamy, smooth chocolate. Tasty, but definitely a challenge to my palate.

Money is crazy tight for all of us right now. Rent, etc, is way too high. Food and groceries are crazy outrageous. So we’re going to be celebrating a quiet holiday season. Doing our advent calendars and our Christmas movie and homemade pizza Fridays, but no tree or presents or expensive travel. I hope you will all find a spark of joy to ease you through the season. And, fingers crossed, hopefully 2024 is a bit … smoother, and easier.

If I remember, I’ll post my holiday baking round-up aka later in the month.

Happy December 1st!

I shared the first of my Advent Calendar posts over on Instagram (FYI for those of you who like to see what treats Michael has found for me this year) (see image below), and I also shared the recipe that appears in Archivist 2, Cream Cheese Cutouts (here on the blog). And since there was a bit of a theme going on for December 1, I thought I would take the time to preemptively share a link round-up of some of the recipes I might bake over the next month, so that every time someone asks for a recipe I can just point them to this post.

Blitzen in a Cup, Chewy Gingersnaps, and (eventually) Cream Cheese Cuotouts all appear in the Adept Universe Cookbook. The other recipes are not connected to my books (yet, LOL). A LOT of these recipes go WAY back (I’ve noted the blog date on each, and you can tell by the different formatting) but I still bake them exactly the same way.