I wanted to start out by saying that this last week was crazy, but then I thought about this week, and crazy November… so I am going with November and December have been crazy!

Why? I am so glad you asked! In November, I don’t think we ever had a full week. There were either field trips, half weeks for parent teacher conferences, short week for a SIP day or a half week for Thanksgiving. Then December shows up and there are three concerts in one week of each other. Enter crazy music teacher! I got in the concert zone, some of the students were not quite there yet… The K-6 concert went really well and I was so relieved to have my first large elementary concert behind me. Learned that we need a monitor so the students can hear the music better, and learned that I need less helpers back stage The high school concert was yesterday, Sunday and it went well. My choir students had better facials than their first concert but their volume was down. We were also missing four students! I will have something for them to do, but I hate when students don’t show up for a performance. Now I need to finish writing their final and create a study guide for them.

With this crazy whirlwind, you wouldn’t think I had time to cook or bake. Well you are partially correct. But the Food Blog Cookie Exchange gave me an excuse to make a recipe I came across earlier this fall: Pumpkin Sinkerdoodles. These cookies are soft and have a subtle hint of pumpkin. They melt in your mouth and stay soft several days latter, though I usually give them away so I don’t eat them all. I thought about adding cinnamon chips in the batter but was nervous so I stuck to the original recipe. Next time, I am adding cinnamon chips. I don’t think I have actually baked with cinnamon chips. I usually eat them before I have time to bake with them. Oops!

I enjoyed participating in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap this year and am planning on participating next year. It was fun getting different cookies from other people and finding out about new blogs. Hopefully next year I will have an original recipe to share If you enjoy baking, and getting tasty treats, I would suggest signing up for next years swap!

Thank you Julianna, Emma, and my one mystery cookie package (need to figure that one out) for the wonderful new recipes! I am excited to try them out in the near future! Go check out their recipes! Warning, the cookies don’t last long

What is your favorite cookie recipe or holiday sweet?