Happy New Year!

Although it's five days into the new year, I'm still going to wish you a happy one. The holidays were fun, even if Matthew and I had colds the entire break. Brian had two weeks of vacation to use or lose so we enjoyed having him home. That said, I'm anxious to get back to our routine and get the house back in order, and Elizabeth just can't wait to get to school tomorrow. I swear, if I have to answer the question, "Am I going to school tomorrow?" one more time.... She's been asking that question for ten days.

I haven't been doing too much baking this week because I'm full. Is anyone else? Did you overindulge this season? I admit to it. I gained five pounds and I'm not eating another cookie or piece of fudge for a while. I need to go through my Cooking Light magazines or the cool new Cooking Light cookbook a friend gave me for Christmas. You'll be seeing a lot of healthier options in the next few weeks (or until I get hungry again). It won't be long, I assure you.

Meanwhile, here's what our family had for dessert on New Year's Eve:
It's Gramery Tavern's Gingerbread as featured on Smitten Kitchen. Brian and I liked it, but the kids did not. But let's face it, gingerbread isn't all that enticing for kids; it's kind of an acquired taste. And I definitely recommend making it the day before you serve it because the first day it tastes a lot like beer and molasses and not much else. On days 2 through 4, it was perfectly yummy. It's so flavorful, though, that you don't need much to satisfy you and I ended up freezing half the cake because really, after four days you don't want to eat the same thing anymore. Well, at least I don't. If you plan on having guests over, especially during the holidays, I bet this would make most of them very, very happy.