Cooking Show: January Soirée for the Downton Abbey Premiere!

I'm still trying to extend Christmas through this week.  I'm not ready to take down my trees, lights and decorations!

Smack dab in the middle of all of our holiday preparations, my friends and I still managed to find time to plan our upcoming soirée to watch the Downton Abbey premiere!

Counting down the days now (FIVE!!) until the premiere.

Here's a shot from last year's get-together.  Canapés, tarts, scones and tea.

And here's a shot from the cooking show that we filmed earlier this month.  My friend, Trish, cooked with me and we attempted some new recipes as well as a few tried-and-true favorites.

Cranberry/Pistachio Cake Bars

Isn't December the best?  I love everything about Christmas--starting the decorating frenzy the day after Thanksgiving, making lists, wrapping gifts, addressing Christmas cards, 

baking up a storm, wishing for snow (not as much as we had last winter, hopefully!),

decking the halls (and the dogs!), and taking the time to just enjoy everything that is so special and wonderful about this time of year.

I've mostly been baking all of our favorite treats...like almond cookies and chocolate raspberry truffles and pistachio/cranberry cookies.  

And so far, I've made two batches of these Cranberry Pistachio Cake Bars! They're a favorite around here because they aren't overly sweet.  The tartness of the cranberries is offset by a sprinkling of sugar on top, while the red and green from the cranberries and pistachios give them a festive look.