A wassailing

I attended the annual OPS wassail party and community Christmas tree lighting this evening. I am starting to get a sore throat, so the hot wassail felt wonderful. The party was very well attended, so it got quite warm inside the museum with all of those people. It was a relief to step outside onto the porch into the cool night air. That was also a great spot from which to watch the lighting of the tree. I especially enjoyed watching the exuberant children running around the tree.



After the tree lighting, DeAnna led the crowd in singing a few Christmas carols, which got me into the holiday mood. I love singing Christmas carols, and often do so in March and July and...well whenever one comes to mind.

But the best part about the wassail party is always the cookies! There were some seriously delicious goodies this year: Jamie's wonderful haystacks, delectable mint chocolate bars, yummy peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses on top, and fantastic cheese cookies (think cheese straws, but in a cookie shape). Rosemary made those and they were terrific - it was nice to have something to munch on with a savory flavor, in addition to all the sweetness.

My friend Ruth suggested that the recipes for the goodies should be put with the plates, so people could take home the ones they loved the best. I took a plate of petit fours to the museum for the party, and if recipe cards were required, mine would have the URL of the website from which I ordered them on it. Yes, really, that's what I did. I love to bake, but I'm much better with cake than with cookies. And this time of year, with so much going on, sometimes I just have to take the simple road.

Hope your life is full of sweetness (store bought or homemade), wherever you are...