Sugar Cookies

If there's one holiday tradition that I couldn't live without, it would be decorating Christmas Sugar Cookies with my younger brother and my mom.  We've been doing it for as long as I can remember, and it's definitely evolved into my most cherished holiday memory, year after year.  We laugh, we make the biggest mess in our kitchen with sprinkles everywhere, we try to eat cookies when they're piping hot out of the oven and we play our Now That's What I Call Christmas CD from, ohhh probably 2001.  It's a total blast!

Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread

Focaccia bread has always been near and dear to my heart because it was my favorite food when i studied in Italy almost 4 years ago.  It wasn't just an "oh, I l always had a side of focaccia bread with my pasta" type of love.  I'm talking I ate more focaccia bread than I did spaghetti, croissants and gelato combined.  At this point, I like to consider myself a connoisseur, so it's hard to find a truly authentic recipe in America.  Lucky for you guys, I've been researching different recipes on Italian websites, and this is as close to the real thing as I can get.  It's surprisingly easy to make yourself, but just make sure you clear out your afternoon because the process is a little lengthy with the time needed for the dough to rise.  It worked perfectly with my massive baking day last Sunday!  I made the bread dough before I started my butternut squash soup and apple crisp, and whipped up the other recipes while this was rising!  It was a heavenly trio to say the least!