Except for when you wake up to the first snow of the season covering your car.

 

I definitely had this Holiday song playing in my head when I woke up this morning excited for the day ahead.  Last night, I came back after my last day of class feeling exhausted (class on Saturday…Boo!).  The BOY and I tried a new local sports bar for some dinner, beer, and the Hoosier’s game.  Afterwards, we swung by Target for some snacks, and I picked up my first load of baking goodies.

 

 

With my hands full of chocolate, the BOY said that I looked like ‘I just broke up with my boyfriend’. If that were the case, there would have been some red wine and The Notebook tucked into my arms too!

 

Instead, I was prepping for my first weekend of holiday baking, and since the BOY is still studying for finals, I invited my mom to join me.  She arrived early this morning to go to Hot Yoga with me.  I have been raving about this class, and she wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  It was a particularly difficult class with lots of arm/shoulder work and of course tons of core!  Afterwards, we were hosting a casual lunch with my best friend and her husband, Baby Lily, and the Ya Ya’s.

 

For lunch, I made Curried Butternut and Red Lentil Soup from Jenna’s blog.  I had been planning to make the soup this weekend, so when we decided to host an impromptu lunch, I thought it would be perfect to share.  I followed Jenna’s recipe, but used a few time saving tricks (and closer to 2 cups of broth instead of 4 for a thicker soup).  I had a frozen butternut squash puree thawing in the fridge, and I used ginger seasoning instead of fresh ginger.

 

The soup came together easily this morning and my house smelled so good my mouth was watering!

 

Unfortunately, I ran out of time before I could run the soup through the blender, but good news is that this chunky soup still tasted absolutely amazing!  The seasonings were fragrant and flavorful and the cayenne adds the perfect amount of kick.  There was only one bowl left, so I’m thinking I may make more tomorrow to have for lunch this week.

 

My mom brought some fresh bread from Whole Foods and chicken salad, and I made a tuna salad creating a light and tasty lunch.  She also brought her own baking supplies.

 

And a fun new magazine.  After lunch, we got to work on our holiday baking (and no-baking).

 

We spent the entire day in the kitchen, expect when we ran out for extra ingredients.  We had tons of fun as we worked our way though some new recipes, finally crashing on the couch to enjoy a small dinner at 7PM. It was a long and tiring day, but a wonderful one!  The Holiday Baking blog post and recipes will have to wait until tomorrow.  Trust me, they are worth waiting for!