This year, Hanukkah and Christmas occurred about the same time. Hanukkah was from December 22 through 28 and Christmas, of course, was December 25. To celebrate both holidays, I made cookies for each. I wanted to try something new and discovered Melt-in-Your-Mouth Hanukkah Gelt Cookies on the Overtime Cook blog, which turned out to be both pretty and delicious.

Sometimes I just have to have someting that’s totally chocolate, with no distractions. This fudgy, dense, decadent cookie topped with dark chocolate frosting is the perfect answer to my question: “Where’s the chocolate?”

Many of my neighbors put up their Christmas lights and trees the day after Thanksgiving. I admire their enthusiasm and love seeing the holiday lights glowing up and down the street. Unfortunately, I’ve never been that organized. Usually my tree doesn’t go up until well into December and one year it didn’t make an appearance at all. I’ll never live that one down.