Merry Christmas

I have been put on hold with baking because my students always make me tons and tons of cookies, none of which I can eat, so my darling husband always has the job of eating them. Unfortunately, that means he is sugared out by the time I'm ready to do my Christmas baking. This year, I have decided to stray away from the usual Christmas goodies and make a random assortment of things that I'd like to eat. Since hubs is in anti-sugar mode and my parents are both dieting, this year its all about the gluten free pregnant lady...and luckily for me, I come from a big family with lots of kids. We all know kids don't discriminate against dessert, especially not the ones in my family.

Christmas Breakfast
* Fresh squeezed OJ from my in-laws tree (gotta love living in FL)
* Coffee (for hub) and Chocolate Milk (for me)
* Chocolate and Cherry Muffins (I subbed the cranberry, orange, and lemon for dried cherries and chocolate chips)
* Cranberry Orange Muffins (with added lemon zest)
* Fruit

Christmas Dessert* Betty Crocker's Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Unfortunately, my plate has a dip in the middle and the cake split. Its not the prettiest, but it smells and tastes delicious!* Almond Joy Coconut Macaroons
- 2/3 cup condensed milk
- 1 egg white
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 24 almonds
-4 ounces chocolate, melted

Combine milk, eggs, vanilla, and shredded coconut in a bowl. Scoop tablespoon sized balls onto a very well greased baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. When you remove cookies from oven, immediately lift off of pan and place on wax paper. Stick an almond into the center of each macaroon. When cookies cool, melt chocolate and dip bottom of cookies in. Allow to cool on wax paper.

Can you tell I live in Florida? Its a very bright, tropical, and citrus filled Christmas, but with the temperatures in the 70s, who can blame me?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!