bake. wrap. be festive. My Functional Christmas List Edition

And the final two days of bake. wrap. be festive. are here. I hope you have found it a little bit helpful or at least a little bit entertaining (scroll down to the bottom if you need more entertainment. My daily awkward moment story is there. It's a good one). But in the final two days, I will share my favorite things to bake at Christmas. And my Christmas list. Which I was forced to put together after about three million emails from my family asking for my list. Exactly one of them gave me a list. I am making Amazon Wishlists mandatory for my family next year.

It really is not Christmas without buttery spritz cookies. I honestly cannot remember a Christmas without them. My mom and I have always used the original Betty Crocker recipe. And they are always perfect. And pretty. And delicious.

 

When I finished my first draft of my Christmas List, I scanned it over and had exactly one thought "And in some Kate Spade place settings and this looks like a wedding registry." It was all functional stuff. Probably because I am much more inclined to buy the fun stuff for myself and put off the boring but necessary purchase.  So then I had to add the fun stuff in which will be tomorrow's list. Today's stuff is all about the necessary, functional stuff.

Honey Can Do Heavy-Duty Gullwing Drying Rack ($30) - I have become quite the hand washer of some of my clothes (mainly because for the first time in my life, I am buying nice clothes and actually reading the care labels on them.) Like if it were Little House on the Prairie times, I would have RULED at washing my clothes in the river or whatever. Except it is currently more of a Rubbermaid tub in the bathtub. Post laundry time--which is usually Saturday night, because yes, my life is just that exciting, my place looks like the laundry monster exploded because I have stuff air drying everywhere. Enter a drying rack.

 

Zyliss Handheld Pizza Wheel ($12) - A few weeks ago I was cutting pizza and the wheel on my pizza cutter broke off and went flying across the kitchen. Apparently I have superhuman strength when pizza is involved. Or it was just a really crappy pizza cutter. And instead of buying a new one, I have just not made pizza. Totally makes sense.

The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America's Most Trusted Cooking Magazine ($26) - I am a huge fan of anything Cook’s Illustrated writes. I love the baking and cooking science they include with every recipe to back up their creation.

 

Bath Sheets I am not a linens snob. Well, not yet. Give me time. A year ago, I would have rolled my eyes at the notion of handwashing my clothes. But I cannot towel off after a shower with anything but a bath sheet. The supersized bath towels are my favorite things ever. And I need new ones.

I had a holiday party on Tuesday. The party at which I participated in the Yankee Swap. My gift was actually a hit with the person who received it so I was pretty excited. And I got an iTunes gift card in the swap so I was happy. But then in the middle of the party when everyone was chatting, my necklace, necklace consisting of about five million bright pink beads spontaneously combusted. Beads went flying EVERYWHERE. Everyone took to scrambling to recovering the beads which I am sure I still going to be found for years to come.

Because of course that would happen. I was fifty percent mortified, fifty percent laughing. It was a four dollar necklace from Forever21 so it was not exactly built to last. I just did not expect it to implode in a public place. A dose of pure embarrassment.

I really think I need to make my weekly moment of mortification a feature next year. I really thought I would outgrow these awkward moments. But THEY KEEP HAPPENING! I am going to get a dent in my forehead from the number of face palm moments I have.