We had a very nice Christmas. I baked a carrot cake from my mother's recipe, and we took 1/4 of it to my husband's office, I ate 1/4 of it, and the other half went to my aunt's house for Christmas dessert.
I have to say that the cake was less challenging to make than I remembered from doing it with my mom during my teen years, mostly owing to the fact that I have better equipment than my mom did. That 6 quart stand mixer has never seemed more practical (or full. It was a gallon and a half of batter).
I may have taken the food processor to the front porch to use while my kid was sleeping. It was a very country-come-to-town move.
I didn't get to boil the glaze as long as recommended, because I didn't realize a half gallon pot was not adequate for the job. Probably something about butter versus the margarine the recipe said the use.
But the cakes came out really well and I enjoyed them a lot. I think everyone else did too.
Our daughter is even more spoiled and now has approximately twice as many toys as she had on December 24. It's great that she has so many people who love her and want her to have fun things with which to play.
And then we went to Arizona and saw the in-laws for a few days. Highlights included introducing our daughter to her "cousin" (second cousin once removed, technically speaking), seeing a grandma and some great-grandparents in action, free babysitters, high quality duck watching, swimming outside, and the most exciting thing for me: a real, live javelina on the loose.
I'd never seen one outside of an enclosure before. We were watching from inside, behind a window. It was very exciting.
And now, on to 2015.