Sugar Cookie and Gingerbread Snowflakes - The Foodie Days of Christmas

Like most kids I loved cutting out sugar cookies at Christmas time and decorating them with brightly colored sprinkles. As my love for cooking and baking grew I branched out into various flavorings, such as orange and almond, and started using melted chocolate as an accent. I always made the same recipe which was passed from one Mom in our neighborhood to another and finally on to my Mom. Each year I made dozens upon dozens of cookies; no matter how many we gave away as presents there was always a heaping tray of decorated sugar cookies on Christmas Day. Eventually we had all had too much of a good thing and I stopped making sugar cookies. This year however, inspired by some beautiful snowflake cookie cutters I purchased, I decided to make roll out cookies once more.

Apple Cranberry Walnut Bread - The Foodie Days of Christmas

This is not your grandmama's fruit cake. This is a delicious, fragrant fruit bread absolutely bursting with sweet apples, tart cranberries, and rich walnuts. When I was a child, and all the way through high school, every year when Winter Break rolled around my mother and I would make several mini loaves of fruit bread to give as gifts to my teachers. This fruit bread makes a fabulous breakfast toasted in the oven and spread with cream cheese or as a perfect mid-afternoon snack sliced plain with hot tea. It's a wonderful treat to bring to friends who may be hosting you for the holidays or to serve at a holiday brunch.

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies - The Foodie Days of Christmas

Chocolate and peppermint go hand-in-hand with the Christmas season like stockings hung by the fire and twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. Between peppermint bark, peppermint hot cocoa, and chocolate covered peppermint cremes this flavor combination is on everyone's list of favorite holiday treats. And I love it! Smooth, rich chocolate and cool, refreshing peppermint. The combination evokes both the comforting richness of holiday foods as well as the fresh, crisp winter air. These cookies offer a great balance of tantalizing flavor to platters of gingerbread men and sugar cookie stars.

Orange-Cinnamon Candied Almonds - The Foodie Days of Christmas

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. Our neighborhood gets all decked out with garlands and lights strung across Hanover Street. Businesses hang pine-scented wreaths with festive gold and red trimmings. We always take a walk around Boston to enjoy the decorations while getting pink-cheeked with the cold. It's possible I married my husband for his incredible ability to have warm hands - even in December. I love simple pleasures amidst the craziness of the the season like a movie matinee and a bowl of clam chowder at the Union Oyster House with Thom or finding the perfect new Santa ornament for my Aunt's collection of all things Saint Nick.

Photo Williams Sonoma

I get so excited to pick out gifts for friends and family. I'd love to be a personal shopper, actually. Over the last few lean years I've had to cut back on gift giving; More and more of my gifts are homemade... a scarf crocheted for Dad, sweet and spicy pecans for friends, or a handmade ornament for Mom. But I still have so much fun trying to find the perfect, special gift for loved ones. I love wrapping presents; picking out paper, ribbons and tags that will make the package as thoughtfully presented as the gift was planned.

I Enjoy a Mixed Metaphor - It's a Fab SBD Giveaway!

CLOSED - The food blogging community is full of smart, sassy, and irreverent writers as well as inspiring, creative and skilled cooks. I am so grateful for the warm welcome you've given me into your ranks! We all know how tough it is to balance multiple projects, deadlines, and responsibilities but your comments and friendship make it all worth it and then some.

As a special thank-you to all of you out there in Cake Land I've teamed up with Survival by Design creator Jenn Adler, the sassiest lady of them all, to offer you this fab giveaway.  Jenn is a huge inspiration to me and apparently I returned the favor by inspiring Jenn to cook!

Dark Chocolate Marshmallow Cream Cups

Remember last week when I discovered two ways for not making marshmallows? Thank goodness I finally figured it out and was able to make some amazing marshmallow treats! Being the frugal cook I am I can't bear to let anything go to waste so I saved the marshmallow cream figuring no recipe is a failure if you can find a way to turn it into something glorious and new. Let me tell you, these candies are pretty glorious.

Think Pink! Marshmallows for Liz

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. From fundraising walks to pink ribbons on cars to TV movies you will see pink everywhere this month in honor of promoting education, early intervention, and treatment of this disease that will afflict 1 in 8 women in the US over the course of their lifetime. One in eight. Think about how many women you know. Now think about how many will be affected by this disease - as well as the ripple effect of the impact of this disease on their friends and families. We can all name at least one woman who has faced and fought breast cancer. I can name seven such courageous women, but today I'd like to tell you about just one - my dear friend Liz. Liz has graciously agreed to share her story here on Oh Cake in the hopes that you will be encouraged to take action, get yourself checked, or encourage your wife, sister, daughter, and friends to get checked.