Load of pickled carrots, now on to holiday butter cookies

I have had the nicest morning. It's cold and drizzly out, the perfect reason to stay inside and cook! I needed to make 11 jars of pickled gingered carrots for two orders so put up an even dozen. Now I've got 1¼ pounds of butter coming to room temp as I'm moving on to holiday butter cookies. Yee-ha! The kids and I had an impromptu dance party last night with a champagne cocktail for moi (prosecco, Luxardo sour cherries, splash of bitters, lemon peel!) and kidtails for them: sparkling apple cider and maraschino cherries. We told T he simply must come home from work and join us and in the meantime, danced to Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. I will tell you, peeps, a cocktail can really make the end of a day with kiddos a bit easier and more fun. Heh! The shrimp creole was lovely and heck yeah! on the roasted romanesco broccoli with a lemony-caper vinaigrette I whisked together at the last moment. Delish! I was, shortly after dinner finished, seized with the desire for some brown butter brownies, and as usual, these rendered us speechless with delight.

This afternoon, the kids and I have a movie date on the pull-out couch in the basement: Home Alone (they've never seen it but will love it, particularly since they booby-trapped my mother-in-law's basement last Sunday) and popcorn.