sip 
See mention of 'Scissors and think…
But instead it end up…
J+R+MC= 
…the day is young 
go back to
I’m getting gray hair waiting… 
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I keep counting the days for it oml… January couldn’t come any faster xD
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For the most part I am genuinely not trying to make January come sooner; I’m looking forward to Christmas and a couple extra days off. But! I’m so excited for the release! I’m usually pretty able to manage that excitement, but I’ve been really anticipating this one and have been antsy for a week or so.
I hope everyone reading this has a lovely holiday season! It’s going to be COLD AF where I live for the next couple days. I’ll be drinking tea (with brandy) and thinking of y’all. (Am I mentally snuggling with R? YES!)
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Oh, hard same! 
Book One will officially release two weeks from today. I think I’m going to be vibrating with antsy energy once we’re a week out, lol.
In some ways, I’m grateful for the holidays providing me some other distractions and fun things to do while I’m reviewing character portrait art, Patreon content, launch posts, or 87 other things related to Book One’s release, haha. 
I think @EvilChani mentioned something about this a while back with helping cook and prep for the holidays; I’m the same way. It’s nice to be able to mix up working on the long-form character descriptions with baking gingerbread. (I did try to make a cookie inspired by R’s cat though by coating it in a thin layer of chocolate frosting. It wasn’t as ebony as their cat’s fur, of course, but that’s probably a good thing because R would probably be mildly affronted at me nibbling on their beloved, feline friend. Oh, they would also approve of how you take your tea and the snuggles. This is their favorite time of year; they tend to be a bit softer too. 
)
R: That is cannibalism.
MC: I’m not a cat, so it’s technically not…?
R: Fine, fine, it’s closer to patricide.
MC: The cat isn’t related to you by blood, and he—
R carefully pulls the cat closer to their side of the couch while pretending to be affronted until they earn a laugh or smile from the MC
We’re also getting battered by a cold front. I’ll be sending you all warm vibes and hoping you stay safe too since black ice on the roadways (or ice in general) can be so dangerous. 
I’ll likely pop back in to post a holiday picture of my cat, if I have time; I’ll have to find the purr-fect one.
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I love how R is a cat person. My OCs all love cats so my MC for Fernweh is on R’s side. XD
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well, Doh…
they share similar traits with cats! Aloof and Emotionally Unavailable
And they shed that sarcasm/flirt all year long 
Hm…although that sound more like S no? R+S? lol
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R is so relatable, TBH.
Everyone here has to endure snow and ice and cold, and meanwhile, it’s a temperate 70 degrees F where I live. Please stay safe and warm!
But every pic you have of him is purr-fect; does this mean you’ll be posting them all? 
Wait, are you combining them into a single person? Or shipping them? 
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Shipping! Totally Shipping!
I’m in the business of Smoochies darling! Over here, we ship kisses all over the world to your doors 
Wonder if I can take down Amazon with this idea 
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If you have a recipe you’d like to share, I’d love it! I love gingerbread so much (no one else around here does, which means more for me 
) but I don’t have a good recipe. Been baking almond bars (basically soft almond shortbread) and tomorrow, me and my mom are making a 14-layer cake (thin layers of cake + fudge icing in between).
R is adorable, not that I blame them–I’d have a problem eating anything shaped like or looking like a dog or cat, especially one that’s in my life!
Hope everyone dealing with this freezing cold is staying warm, while @Lambkin is enjoying 70 degree weather. 
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meany, talking about cookies and cakes and sharing none 
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I’m not a gingerbread person, but I make molasses cookies, which are very similar but soft and better.
Molasses Cookies
1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening
1/2 cup light molasses
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
4 cups flour
4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp each of cloves, cinnamon, and ginger (I usually add some allspice and nutmeg too because why not?)
1 tsp salt
For glaze:
Powdered sugar
Water
Splash of vanilla
Instructions
Melt and cool the shortening.
Mix with sugar, molasses and eggs. Beat well. Add the flour, baking soda, and spices.
Drop by spoonfuls on lightly greased (or parchment lined) tray.
Bake on cookie tray at 350 till brown but still soft, about 8 to 11 minutes. Do not overbake. When they start to crack a little they are done.
Cool for a minute or two, then brush with glaze made with powdered sugar and water. I put a splash of vanilla in the glaze usually. These freeze really well.
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Ooh, those sound awesome! Thank you so much for the recipe. I’m going to try this!!
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Yay! That’s what I love to hear!
Well, if you have a subscription service, I’ll be the first one to sign up! Favorite characters can never have too many kisses. (Heck, I’ll even help you run the business; as we established in the Mind Blind thread, I am your sidekick! 
)
@EvilChani
My gosh, your fudgy 14-layer cake sounds heavenly! I hope you and your mom have fun both baking and eating it! 
@furyleika
Thank you so much for sharing your molasses cookies recipe! It’s going at the very top of the ‘must bake’ list now! 
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I’m dropping by to wish all of you happy holidays! 
Also, you’re totally confusing me with this Fahrenheit thing, I always have to use internet to convert it to Celsius
And now I’m so envy of @Lambkin’s 70 degrees. It’s between 20 and 45 here the last few days. But it will be 55 for Christmas, yey!
I don’t see any pictures of a gorgeous cat yet 
So, happy holidays again and I’ll see you all in the woods on 05.01.2023
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I know right? Fahrenheit peasants they are lol
Dunno about Happy holidays, but someone wake me up when we get there!
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Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Recipe (With My Slight Adjustments)
This recipe makes relatively soft and pliable, traditional gingerbread. They aren’t crunchy or hard, but have a nice spiced flavor that can be a great base for icing or decorations too.
The recipe is below the read more
Ingredients
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I upped this; it calls for a 1/2 teaspoon.)
1/2 teaspoon of cloves (I tend to do a light 1/2 teaspoon so like three quarters of this amount, but it depends on your taste!)
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg (I added this!)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I also added this.)
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 tablespoon of white vinegar (it sounds weird, but it’s important)
2 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
Method
Beat the Crisco on medium-high speed for 30 seconds to break it up and further soften it.
Add in the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. (I find it easier to measure all the spices into a tiny cup at the start to create an easily dumpable blend.) Beat until everything is coarsely combined.
In another bowl, carefully beat the molasses, vanilla, egg, and finally the vinegar until combined. (I think this is done separately because the molasses is so sticky; it gives things a chance to mix together properly.)
Next, add the molasses mixture to the crisco mixture, ensuring that they are blended together nicely.
The flour needs to be added in intervals as the mixture thickens. Adding it bit-by-bit while beating it with a stand or hand mixer works for a time, but eventually you will feel a change and need to stir the rest in by hand. A stiff dough will form.
Divide the dough in half and chill for at least 3 hours or until it seems easy to handle.
Lightly flour a surface to begin the rolling out process. Your cut cookies should be a generous 1/4 inch in thickness and spaced at least an inch or so apart on the baking sheet since they do rise/spread a tiny bit, but not much. The sheet itself can be lightly sprayed with some baking spray to prevent any sticking to it.
These cookies bake at 350 F for about 5 to 6 minutes or until lightly brown. It’s best to let them cool on a wrack for a period of time and further setup, plus if you want to decorate them. My usual glaze is similar to @furyleika ;it’s powdered sugar, vanilla and milk based. I have a buttercream recipe that I use sometimes too.
The unbaked gingerbread dough freezes extremely well. After you cut out your desired shapes, you can store some of them in tupperware with parchment paper dividers to enjoy a bit of holiday spices whenever you feel like it.
Happy baking! I could see Mrs. Dorran and B tag-teaming to bake up a storm during this time of year. 
@EvilChani, I especially like your multi-layered chocolate fudge cake; it sounds like a classic cake my great-grandmother used to make. I never had a chance to taste it, but I’ve heard many stories about it. The level of skill and precision to make those super thin layers and to perfectly boil the rich icing is incredible; it’s so cool to me that you and your mom know how to create this.
Thank you! I hope you have wonderful holidays as well. Midnight is preening from your and @Lambkin’s compliments about his festive photos. 
I will post one for the holidays soon; there are so many to pick from, lol. XD I will try to find one that could relate to R’s cat as well.
R’s cat would have an entire wardrobe of holiday garb to chose from, including actual jingle bells that produce a merry tune with each step. 
(Ms. Verner likely locked herself in her study after hearing that noise echoing in the mansion one too many times.) Since your MC is also fond of cats, I could see R roping them into a holiday photo op with the cat in the middle. Oh, all of your clothes would likely be coordinated, haha.
Edit: The wind just knocked out my power, so not sure about when I’ll be back to reply/post the picture. I’m not really used to the mobile site, but it’s working pretty well. Anyway, just a heads-up.
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Happy holidays to you as well! 
I hope you and your family have a wonderful rest of the year. 
Aww, I’m sorry! I knew I was forgetting to do something! (And hey, I can admit that Celsius is the superior temperature scale. )
You don’t have to envy me for long; I think the temperature is actually going to drop to around freezing this weekend, so I’ll be hibernating under several layers of fleece blankets and only occasionally making mandatory appearances for our family gathering.
@lacunafiction
Your gingerbread recipe sounds amazing! Thank you as well for sharing it with us. 
Between you and @furyleika, you’re both keeping everyone in the thread well-stocked with sweetly spiced cookies.
Haha, poor Ms. Verner; I can’t blame her for that response. We had ribboned jingle bell collars for our dogs, and it was cute for all of five minutes (especially when they zoomed around the living room, aggressively jingling), but that’s as long as it lasted.
Fingers crossed you get your power back soon. Please stay safe; I hope the wind isn’t bad/dangerous.
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Merry Christmas to you all♥️
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Lol. Me too. Although that was a frw hours ago. We were trying to get ready for a long road trip and the wind knocked out our power and internet all morning.
Aww. You too. And everyone else in this thread.
Also thank you to @furyleika for the cookie recipies. I’m not that big a fan of gingerbread, but I love molasses cookies.
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@lacunafiction Thank you for the recipe! I can’t wait to try it. We just finished making the 14-layer cake (that ended up being 12 layers because I botched one taking it out of the pan and my mom refuses to have a 13-layer cake, lol)
It is likely just like what your great-grandmother used to make. My grandmother, who got it from her mother, used to make it and my mom learned from helping her (and wrote out the recipe from what she learned because my grandmother never bothered with a recipe and did it from memory, lol).
I’d be happy to share the recipe, if you’re interested! Along with a few tips for making it that save a lot of grief. The trick to the thin layers is using a cast iron skillet and not cooking them for long. Anyway…
So would Mrs. Dorran and B let a non-romanced MC into their kitchen? I’m curious about the friendships outside of the one (ones, in my MC’s case!) romanced. Then again, too many cooks in the kitchen…
I hope everyone’s power is back on!
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