It's been a Little Women kind of Christmas- lots of good works without being able to do some of the "pagan rituals" that I love. I have a tree, but no lights or ornaments yet. Very little cookie dough has been done, cookie labels haven't been designed, no Christmas cards yet, and I've only listened to a couple of Christmas CDs.
But it's Christmas anyway. I feel Christmas, even if I haven't been able to sit in my house, in the dark, and look at my tree lights without my glasses (if you have good eyesight, you can't know the joy of out-of-focus Christmas lights).
These cupcakes (made yesterday with the help of my cousin Michelle) will have to represent all of the baking, cleaning, dog-walking, phone calls, sewing, singing, and packaging done over the last few weeks (since there's been no time to take photos):
They're made with the Vanilla Pound Cake recipe from here, the coconut cupcake frosting from the first barefoot contessa cookbook, Mrs. Millman's chocolate frosting recipe from the Martha Stewart Website, and crushed peppermint.