Coconut Horchata Cookies

I was invited to a taco party recently and wanted to bring something sweet with me. I racked my brain as I was driving home and remembered reading a beautiful post Ashlae of Oh Ladycakes wrote about finding a place that her made happy. In it she had a recipe and a few lovely photographs of coconut horchata polvorones. I steered through the remaining traffic in the District, excited to bake a tiny batch of cookies. Much different than scooping out three hundred chocolate chip cookies from a bowl my arm can barely reach the bottom of, and much more relaxing. I whisked together the flours and cinnamon, and folded in the coconut oil. I was looking forward to leaving my house to catch up with friends over dinner. I didn't even complain too much about how we were eating dinner at almost 9pm which is actually my bedtime. I woke up the next morning quite sleepy from staying out too late and still full from all the rice and beans, but happy that I pushed myself to appreciate time with friends.


I'm trying to keep balance in mind in these coming weeks. There are 35 days until the holidays over. And while it might seem sacrilegious to most for me to be hoping the holidays end quickly, they probably don't work in retail. For them the holidays are probably still about spending time with their family & friends. But for me, it means being stuck 13 hours from my family baking several hundred pies and thousands of gingerbread cookies. I try to just keep pushing ahead. Knowing that I can probably take a few days off once all the orders have been delivered to customers, and things are back to their normal pace.
I'm trying to stay positive when I wake up in the dark, and come home to darkness, and hate the winter with every fiber of my being. I'm trying to spend those dark hours in the house pouring over new books and playing with rubber stamps. Or curling up on the couch with Greg and watching Dear Mr. Watterson. I've got a long list of errands and things I need to do and things I want to bake. Soon it will be 2014, and I am ok with that.