Culinary Responsibilities

One of the best ways for me to keep myself occupied at my parents' house is to cook up a storm. It's an ideal situation for everyone, as I have something I enjoy to do, and an audience to cook for. On the other side, my parents generally enjoy what I make for them! In part just to help me keep track, here are a few things I'll be helping with over the next few days:

1. Cinnamon Rolls tomorrow morning - I'm pretty excited to delve into these gooey, warm, soft treats on Christmas morning. They're already assembled in the fridge, so I just have to bake them in the oven and make the icing!

2. My godmother's corn spoon bread - I've made this for the past couple Thanksgivings with hubby and my mom requested I make some for tomorrow's dinner.

3. Cranberry Sauce - I really want to try out making real cranberry sauce, so I bought some cranberries at the store. My mother had found a specific recipe she was curious about, so I'll be making that tomorrow as well.

4. Apple pie filling - my dad is going to make the crust, and I'll be responsible for the filling, and that's for Christmas dessert

5. Tomato Basil Tartlets - I saw Giada make these on television yesterday and they look quite scrumptious! I'm going to make them as a midday appetizer tomorrow to tide us over until our afternoon dinner.

[From Giada's website]

6. Cheesecake with mixed berry sauce - I'm using a Barefoot Contessa recipe that I first tried out in the spring. I love cheesecake, and it's wonderful to make and worked out last time. We'll be bringing this to an extended family gathering the day after Christmas.

[From Food Network's website]

I'm going to be cooking up a storm... and I wouldn't have it any other way! Hopefully I'll be back to recap at least some of this after the holiday. Also, stay tuned later today for a post remembering a very special time in my life, three years ago today!