Sweet Holiday Favourites and Glad Tidings!

This past week alone I've gone through almost five pounds of butter.  I guess you could say I'm back at recipe testing, AND baking up some favourite sweet things from holidays past.  I couldn't imagine Christmas without these Rosemary Oatmeal Shortbread, or these Brown Sugar Shortbread with Toblerone Chunks.  Last year I brought a tin of these White Chocolate & Rosemary Cranberry Blondies home to the family, and they were a surprise hit among the 6 and under crowd.  They'll be packed in my car again this year as I head home to see my fam jam in just 10 days.  I'm totally counting down the sleeps. 

Wish: Chocolate Shortbread with Cacao Nibs & Sea Salt

Every Christmas Eve, when it's quite late, with just the Christmas tree lights glowing in the corner of my small living room, I peel back the curtain and find a tiny star to wish upon.  It's super dorky to admit that to complete strangers, but maybe you do it too.  And it's a big wish.  Something I yearn for deeply, to come true in the next year or so.  Something that I need to happen to just make life a little better.  Given the wonderful things that I've been blessed with this year, I can tell you they come true, too.  This small moment, after all of the stresses of the season have passed, is what I think I look forward to most.  Now more than ever, in a world filled with so much pain and suffering, we need to have hope in our back pocket.