Homemade Holiday
I spent this weekend trying to drum up some holiday spirit the best way I know how, by going full throttle in my kitchen. I made an enormous batch of hot cocoa mix, a couple of pounds of peppermint bark and a huge tray of granola. The smell of the cinnamon on the granola as it baked was enough to drum up some holiday cheer in itself. Of course the wine consumed while baking the sweet treats didn't hurt either. I capped off the weekend with a delicious chicken piccata last night and one more glass of wine.

And this is only the beginning really. Christmas day at my house will be all about food and family, thirty of us to be exact, and tons of good homemade Mexican food. The menu has been set and I have been recruited to make all of the "party foods," the only non-ethnic cuisine that will be eaten. You know, homemade chex mix, maybe a cheese tray and chocolate fudge for the sweet tooth. My mom and my aunts are responsible for the enchiladas, menudo, barbacoa, tamales, rice, beans, flautas, queso and all the fixings.

I think I have finally found my lost holiday spirit, it was hiding in my kitchen, which is probably the first place I should have looked.