i've been home for five days now and i think i've gained a pound, at least, for each of those days. spiced nuts and wine on the airplane back (yeah, i rolled it first class style 'cuz my retired-united-employee-daddy-o was with me), potato chip cookies, stout gingerbread, cabbage pie on christmas, eggnog, french fries and nachos, more wine, christmas cookies from mrs. anderson next door...somebody help me! i love my family and i love being with them, but hell if my diet hasn't been just a little over the top these past few days...

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i baked up a storm this holiday: in oakland, i spent a few late nights mixing and whisking up coconut oatmeal cookies (a family favorite from my grandma joan), peppermint chocolate crinkles, molasses spice cookies, pumpkin oatmeal chewies, white and dark chocolate chip cookies, and pistachio-cherry mexican wedding cookies. i also de-pulped all the hachiya persimmons i got at the farm and made persimmon spice bread...yum. here in chicago, i was lucky to find a smidgen of space on the countertops to set up shop (my parents are remodeling and it's crazzzzzy) and i baked my all-time favorite potato chip cookies as well as a gingerbread stout (guinness) cake with a citrus glaze. the winners of the year, by far, were the pistachio cherry mexican wedding cookies and the persimmon bread (the coconut oatmeal and potato chip cookies are all-time favorites, so they don't enter the yearly competitions :)).

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i'll add the recipe for the persimmon bread...i would even add a little more persimmon than the recipe calls for...the bread would be a bit more dense and moist, and i think that would be just divine :)

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spicy persimmon bread

this is a delightful winter breakfast treat :)

1/2 cup hachiya persimmon pulp (go ahead, add more!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a standard loaf pan. In a small bowl, stir together the persimmon pulp and baking soda. Let stand 5 minutes to thicken the pulp. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, oil, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Blend until smooth. Mix in persimmon pulp and water alternately with flour. Fold in nuts. Divide batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.