The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies You'll Ever Eat (Not Hyperbole, Fact!)

I must say that my favorite type of cookie is chocolate chip. My vision of the perfect chocolate chip cookie is one that is slightly crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. (If you like hard, crunchy cookies like my sister does, then stop reading right now. Such heresy shall never grace the pages of my blog, so take your sweet tooth elsewhere!) The perfect cookie must have plenty of chocolate chips and a flavorful cookie base. I've kind of been on a quest to find this perfect recipe. Every time I made chocolate chip cookies I tried something new, but every recipe was missing something. Some were too crispy, some too doughy or cakey. And some had too much cookie and not enough chocolate! And all of them were lacking some specific taste that I just couldn't identify. (I'm not a chef or a foodie, so I've never been able to taste something and say, "This needs a touch more cumin." Not that you would put cumin in chocolate chip cookies, but you get my point!)

My Four Totally Delicious, Painstakingly Perfected, Absolutely-Necessary-for-the-Holidays, Recipes for Christmas Cookies!

I love to bake! And Christmas is a great excuse to make all kinds of cookies that I normally try to keep out of my house for self-control reasons. This year I stuck to the basics: my four favorite kinds of Christmas cookies. I like to think that I have the perfect recipes for all four. So I thought I'd share them with all of you! And, by the way, I've arranged them in order from easiest and fastest to most difficult and time-consuming. So if you haven't started baking yet and want something quick, start with the first recipe. They're amazing, and everyone will be impressed by your baking skills!

Confessions of a Messy Mom

I am a bit of a slob, a "messy" if you will. I always have been. I know for a fact that I drove several college roommates crazy! My house is usually fairly clean (i.e. free of dirt and grime), but it tends to stay messy! Sure, I tidy up when company's coming, but day to day, I let things go. However, I am proud to announce that I am on day 11 of keeping the house tidy!! Eleven days ago, the house was in pretty bad shape, and I was feeling very depressed about how messy everything was. (Having it be "that time of the month" didn't help!) My husband graciously told me to rest while he tidied the whole place. He spent a few hours getting everything put away. He even mopped the kitchen floor! Everything looked so nice! I came to the shocking conclusion. I like having the house tidy! I think my husband appreciates it, too! So I decided to see if I could keep it that way.

I've discovered something: it doesn't take much work to keep the house tidy if you keep up with it! I've started putting things away when I'm done with them. When I change my son's clothes for example, it's not too much work to immediately put his dirty clothes in the hamper, rather than leaving them on the floor in the living room! And cleaning up the kitchen right after dinner works better than waiting till morning! I have also found that if I unload the dishwasher as soon as it finishes running, it's easy to put dirty dishes in as I use them, rather than leaving them piled in the sink. And my son's toys are more manageable if I pick them up several times a day.

I know all these things are common sense for all you "cleanies" out there. But they're real breakthroughs for me. Eleven days is definitely my record. I'm getting excited to see how long I can keep this up!