One of my favorite days...

Again, as I have mentioned numerous times, I LOVE to bake.  LOVE it!!
Holidays are no exception.
Stressful? Yes.
Relaxing? Yes.

Work in progress 1

Yep. Both in one.

Our kitchen is my second favorite place in our house.  I love all the light, the counter space, our appliances and gadgets, and basically, everything about it.  Cooking is awesome in our kitchen.  It also doesn't hurt that we choose to budget for a housekeeper to clean for us every two weeks, so destroying the kitchen isn't as time-consuming as it would be if we didn't have someone a bit more anal retentive about cleaning attending our grander messes.  This way L and I can hang out and relax on weekends for the most part, rather than spending the time cleaning.

 Most holidays I get to make the pies for any gatherings.  Sometimes I get requests for cupcakes or cookies, and sometimes I just like to surprise.  I know that L's mom loves to bake as much as I do (and she is WAY better at it), so it is nice that she relinquishes the task once in a while to me.

Work in progress 2

This year I made two pies.  I really wanted to make about 50, but I was told 2 max or we would have too many desserts (clearly, these people have not gotten the memo that "too many desserts" as a phrase does not exist in this space-time-continuum).  But, I actually listened...they never said anything about "no magic bars."

So I made a pumpkin pie.  And an apple pie.  And magic bars.  I also made a cobble 2 days before, and that was awesome.  L's going to freeze what he can't finish so I can have some when I get back for good. 

Work in progress 3

Here are my baking photos from my brief stint home.  I am pretty pleased with how everything turned out, and even though I ate far too much, and there is a really good chance that I have gained 10 pounds from unnecessary bad eating of excess, I thought this holiday was a tremendous success.

Pumpkin pie and apple pie are in good 'ole Betty Crocker, and the Magic Bars recipe is: HERE.
And seriously, they were AMAZING.  Absolutely delicious.

My old-school Betty Crocker Cookbook.  The cover is missing, and all the pages are yellowed, but hey, it has taught me some really good things, and has been with me since college.  I think my family got it at a garage sale before I was even born. 

Cobbler large view

Cobbler single serving

Pre-oven pie (filled to capacity)

Pie post-oven...still not sure if I cooked it enough, but it tasted awesome! Fresh ground nutmeg totally makes a difference!!!

Pre-lattice (but with many apples taken out--the mound WAS higher!)

Post lattice. I. Hate. Lattice.

Post Oven. 

Magic Bars--step 4 of 6.

Magic Bars out of oven

Seriously delicious.

Even better than it looked was how YUMMY they tasted.