I know, i know...we haven't even gotten past Halloween yet and already thoughts of Christmas are dancing in our heads like the proverbial sugarplums.  That's really not such a bad thing because, as Dickens said about the spirit of Christmas, "I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year".

For instance, take baking.  Between you and me i absolutely hate cooking, but baking i kinda like.  Maybe it's because i'm really a dessert kind of person.  I'll take a cupcake over a chicken leg any day of the week.

So autumn and the impending holidays seem to be a time that even the least Julia Childs types among us pull out our old family recipes and try again.  Don't you just love those old handwritten cards with grandma's favorite cookie recipe, or those yellowed clippings from the women's section of the newspaper with the formula for the perfect white frosting?  Every time i see them a flood of childhood memories rushes over me.....the scents of baking from mom's kitchen, and her delight even at us kids grabbing most of what comes out of the oven. I supposed that's why she did so much baking after we went to bed!

 So, pull out that treasure trove of old family recipes, and enjoy the memories....even if it's not quite Halloween yet.  After all, those memories know no season....

original painting on vintage recipe box, with Christmas ornament! (available on Etsy)