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     My husband and I are truly empty nesters now.  This past weekend Madalynn moved in with a friend to be her roommate.  It is a new chapter for her and it makes me a little sad, but I am glad that she still works nearby and is still in Phoenix, so I know I will still be seeing her quite a bit.  So, until our youngest gets home from his 2 year mission in Africa, we are empty nesters.  
      One thing about being empty nesters is that we use a lot less milk than we used to.  It is hard to use a gallon before it sours, so I am having to start buying half gallons.  But, when Alicia was here with her children, I bought milk for them and there was still almost a gallon left when they were gone. The expiration date was coming and I hated to see the milk go to waste, so I found some recipes that use large quantities of milk.  Do you remember the post about Lindsey coming into a huge amount of canned pumpkin?  This Pumpkin Brulee recipe made it possible for me to use both the milk and some of the pumpkin! 
     This brulee gives you the pumpkin pie taste without the crust. Because it is made with regular milk rather than evaporated milk, it is a soft, creamy custard, less firm than you get in pie. My favorite perk is that I got to use my brulee torch to make the crunchy topping!

Pumpkin Brulee

       I must add that this Pumpkin Brulee received Lindsey's seal of approval!
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     I truly admire my daughter, Maddy, for her ability to choose a vegan lifestyle and stick to it the way that she does.  We have a lot of family dinners around here and there are sometimes very few choices for her to eat, even though I try to make sure there are some vegan choices.  Also, there are a lot of temptations! Just yesterday we had a big dinner and there was delicious Texas Sheet Cake! Definitely not vegan and Maddy had to pass on it as she ate her rice and fruit choices.  I felt bad for her, even though she was uncomplaining.  I know that I do not have that kind of will power.  Well, while I searched for my Texas Sheet Cake recipe, I came across another old recipe that I had forgotten about.  It is this Goofy Chocolate Cake that has no eggs, no milk and can easily be sweetened in a vegan way. Since there were many people here yesterday and the Texas Cake is just about gone, I decided to make up this cake this morning as a surprise for Madalynn! She deserves a reward. 

     Besides not containing any eggs or dairy products, this recipe is inexpensive to make! When you are out of eggs and milk, you can still have chocolate cake that is delicious! It rises very well and is fluffy and super chocolaty.  I think that the secret to the rise is the combination of vinegar and baking soda. We all know what those ingredients do in science project volcanoes! Don't worry, you don't taste the vinegar at all, just the delicious chocolate taste that comes from the cocoa powder used in this recipe. 

Goofy Chocolate Cake (vegan!)

     You can frost the cake however you would like, of course.  Just remember that if you are keeping it vegan not to use dairy in your frosting! Here are a few alternatives:

• Use almond milk in your regular frosting recipe and shortening instead of butter. 
• Use some homemade (or purchased) jam or jelly to fill the cake and drizzle on top! 
• Make a frosting with fruit juice instead of milk.  Orange frosting tastes great on a chocolate cake.  Just substitute orange juice for the milk.  Add the zest for even better flavor. 

I love chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, so I used the almond milk alternative for Maddy's cake. 

    This cake is rich and moist.  I believe that it can rival any chocolate cake out there! I don't think Maddy will have to eat the entire thing on her own. 

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It's one week until Christmas! So exciting! One of my favorite Christmas traditions is making our favorite goodies and bringing them to friends and neighbors (usually with a carol too!). If you do this same tradition and are looking for new recipes to make and share this season we've rounded up 16 of our cookie recipes for you guys.

1. Fudge Mounds- You can't have a better chocolate cookie than this. It's cake-like texture makes it so scrumptious, especially paired with a plain vanilla frosting. These are so easy to decorate for Christmas too.
2. Chocolate Dipped S'more Bars- these are no bake but seriously so delicious!
3. Vegan Chocolate Chip- Don't forget about your vegan friends.They need a special treat this season too and these cookies will not disappoint vegans and non-vegans alike!
   
4. Chocolate-Chip Peanut Butter- Is there an any more magical combination than Chocolate and Peanut Butter? Probably not. This cookie holds all that magic you need for the season.
5. Zebra Cookies- A classic chocolate chip cookie but with a fun twist.

     6.Gingerbread- A holiday classic that doesn't just have to be in the shape of people.
     7. Owl Cookies- If you have an owl lover in your life they'd be delighted to receive these adorable 
        cookies on their holiday plate.
    8. Cookies to Hang on a Mug- Use our sugar cookie recipe to make these cute treats that hang
        nicely on your mug of cocoa (made from a hot cocoa bomb of course)!
    9. Marbled Sugar Cookies- Although our original recipe was about autumn, this could be easily
        adapted for Christmas by swapping out the shapes and colors. These are great when you just
        don't feel like messing with frosting and sprinkles!

   10. Turn Everyday Cookies into A Holiday Treat- For when you don't want to turn out a classic
         recipe but you do want something a bit more festive.
    11. Carrot Cake Cookie- A delightful morsel with flavors that go surprisingly well with the season.
   12. Oatmeal Cookies- We actually did a whole series of testing and trying out oatmeal cookie
        recipes but these were the ones we loved the most.
   13. Oatmeal Butterscotch- The delicious cookie that started us on the oatmeal cookie quest with
         neither raisins nor chocolate chips.
   14. Strawberry Shortbread Sandwiches- These crisp and delicate cookies are perfect for your
        holiday plates of goodies. The strawberry jam has the perfect Christmas color and tastes
        heavenly with the lemon!
  15.Pumpkin Snickerdoodles- Why should pumpkin be kept as just a fall cookie? These delicious
        cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar will delight your taste buds!
  16. Strawberry Thumbprints- An old favorite who's red and white appearance is sure to evoke
        images of Santa to the recipient.

These aren't all of our cookie recipes but these are some of our favorites! Do you have any favorites you like to give away each year?

Merry Christmas! And Happy Baking!