some gifts cooked up from our table to theirs. a few of the foods prepared around here that we brought along with us to family celebrations, passed on to some neighbors and enjoyed quietly here ourselves. edible gifts prepared with intention in the kitchen as the sounds of the season jingled all the way in the background.
as always there were cookies. the thumbprint and sugar cookies (both martha stewart recipes) i've been baking for several years now as a christmas tradition. last year we added the gingerbread (love! we decided to add it to the mix again this year). some good, simple ingredients mixed up with love and holiday cheer.
now, the whole "i'm going to make my parents, nonnie and siblings (+ their families) each their own batches of homemade ravioli as a christmas surprise!" ?... yeah, that was new this year. days before christmas i started rinsing and chopping organic spinach for the filling... mixing it up... making the dough (again, with the love and holiday cheer) and eventually rolling it out by hand... making the littlest of pillowy spinach/cheese filled bundles row by row.... then wrapping them up with brown bag paper and some salvaged bakery twine. they had just enough time in the freezer to set before it was time to deliver them... and, um, having to tell your loved ones "oh yes, we have a little something for you here, but lets get these brown paper parcels back into the freezer quickly now shall we?" was a bit... non-traditional — however fun, festive and merry nonetheless. we'd like to think they'll bring a little comfort and joy to their tables this winter.
