Deck the Halls... with peanut butter cookies.

It's the holiday season and things are getting real romantic.

[Excited about our "engagement ornament"]

My fiance (you never get used to that...) is basically Santa Claus... minus the bowl full of jelly. Or white beard. Or red suit... sorry, Matt. Maybe I should have just called you an elf. Whoops.

Anyway, this time of year is my favorite. I am the girl that shamelessly lets KOST dictate when the holiday season begins. This year it was about two weeks before Thanksgiving. But no matter! I sang along anyway .

What makes the season even brighter for me is that I have a partner who enjoys the holidays just as much as I do. He showers me with all things holiday at Trader Joe's - eggnog, wassail, something called Jingle Jangle (it's delicious). He decks the halls flawlessly - every time I come home there is something new and festive. Yesterday it was a special edition of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas sitting on my coffee table. On Monday, it was mistletoe. See what I mean?! My heart melts.

[Christmas is merrier with a Matthew]

I have also discovered he is a Christmas ornament hoarder. Every time I came home there seemed to be a new box of ornaments at the front door. I almost held an intervention... but his new hobby has harbored a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. It makes my heart happy. We busted out the rest of the decorations this week with White Christmas on in the background. That Bing Crosby.

Speaking of busting out, this is also the time of year my pants seem to get a little tighter. Damn all of those delicious holiday treats! But, as I head into the first of many seasonal celebrations this month, I am embracing a new philosophy courtesy of one of my favorite bloggers, Kasey Arena: give yourself permission to enjoy yourself. Instead of beating myself up, this holiday I am going to make a concous effort to be present, and to be more intuitive with what my body wants and needs. It's the time of year we are surrounded by the people we love and reflecting on all we are grateful for. Why not be grateful for you? We deserve to be kind to ourselves. I highly recommend checking out Kasey's blog posts about #bodypeace. Her journey is inspiring, and we can all learn a lot from digging a little deeper. Tis the season.

[Preach]

Embracing #bodypeace, I have been scouring the interwbes for all of the tasty holiday recipes. Told you I was spirited. And let me tell you, there are some real gems. Expect lots o tasty things in the next several weeks, but for starters, I had to share the makings of the most delicious peanut butter cookie I have ever tasted in my life. My coworker Ray is a baking god. He makes these cookies he calls "5.0 shades of chocolate chip" cookies - with five different types of chips and a dusting of sea salt. Forget a swimming pool of jello, I want a lake of those cookies. Yesterday I returned to my office to find a platter of cookies from the baking god, which was fortunate since I had forgotten to pack a lunch... that platter was gone in 20 minutes tops. And the peanut butter cookie became a close second to the 5.0. It's rich and creamy, and rolled in honey roasted peanuts! What?! As if I didn't adore this man enough, he informed me he got the recipe from the Saturday section of the Los Angeles Times, which I read religiously. The cookie is from a bakery in San Luis Obispo that is appropriately named the Buttery. If you are heading to a cookie exchange, or just really hungry for something decadent and delicious, I highly recommend you put on a Christmas movie and bust out this recipe. It's life changing.

[Food porn courtesy of the Los Angeles Times]

Key players:

½ cup butter, at room temp 1 ½ cup pastry flour

½ cup + 1Tbs bakers sugar ½ cup chunky peanut butter

½ cup + 2Tbs light brown sugar 1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 egg at room temp ½ t salt

1 cup dry roasted peanuts or

½ Cup roasted peanuts mixed with ½ Cup Honey Roasted peanuts.

Peanut butter cookie time:

1. Cream butter until creamy. Add sugars and cream together being careful not to overmix.

2. Beat in egg just until incorporated. Then beat in peanut butter.

3. Separately, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

4. Add flour mix to sugar mix beating until smooth.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a rough log,

approximately 2 ½ inches in diameter. Pace the dough in parchment paper and roll

the dough so it is smooth and a consistent 2 ½ inches thick throughout the log.

The log will be about 9 inches long. (For smaller cookies simply make the log longer and

thinner)

6. Place the peanuts (or mixed peanuts) in a rimmed cookie sheet and gently roll the

dough in the peanuts to coat all sides. If the peanuts do not stick you may coat the

log with a beaten egg and then roll the log in the peanuts.

7. Wrap the log in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

8. Pre-heat the oven to 350.

9. Slice the log into 1-inch thick slices and place on a cookie sheet 3-inches apart.

Bake until set and browned around the edges, about 20 min. (For smaller cookies, consider

slicing into ½ inch to ¾ inch slices. I also cook for shorter time. I start checking color at

about 13 minutes)