When the hubby's away ...

I get very, very lazy. Think soup and sandwiches for dinner. Lots of time on the couch with Christmas music playing, scented candles burning, and L&O on repeat. Throw in a RomCom — maybe When Harry Met Sally or Love Actually or The Holiday — and the picture is complete. Riddle sleeps on the bed, too. It's horrible. All usual activities are suspended.

And, with dwindling amounts of work in the afternoon, there's been plenty of time for baking!!

 Peppermint meringues were easy, pretty, and quite fun to make.

 Then came the apple pie cookies. So good. Big wow factor with my students. Lots of apples to peel and cut up.

 An assembly line works best with theses.

 They look like little ravioli before being baked, but throw a little heat on these and ...

Heavenly! Reworked the recipe a bit to enhance the apple taste. The students devoured these in minutes. I'm thinking I might try pumpkin over break.

Jamie is having a blast in Colorado. He's working with some of the best eighth grader water polo players in the country and the women's national team. How cool is that?! He's an insider at the Olympic training center. Says the food is good, the workout facility is pretty sweet, and the other coaches are super duper knowledgeable. He's going to come back filled with new ideas for our players.

My weekend here is chock full: lunar eclipse run Saturday morning, some volunteer work, pilates, coffee with friends, napping, RomCom watching, Nutcracker viewing, and holiday cheer spreading.

Happy happy to you!

m&r (&j from afar)