A note about the christmas baking

Many of the things I baked for Christmas this year, it was the first time I made them. So since I haven't gotten around to downloading the pics of my homemade gifts yet, I'll pass along what I've learned about the things I made.

First, the white chocolate peppermint cookies. While the crushed up candy canes look really cute and festive, I think next time I'd rather leave them out. They sort of made the cookies too minty. Plus they were a bit sticky.
As for the truffles, they definitely need to be stored cold. And it's best not even to put them out until just before you're about to serve them. When they come up to temp, they start to get a little messy and they absorb all the cocoa powder from the outside.
The peanut butter cookies weren't as good as I had hoped. They didn't really stay chewy. I think I'll experiment with different recipes for next year. My mother made cookies this year that were peanut butter cookies with a hershey's kiss in the center and those stayed really chewy. I'm thinking of trying those with chocolate chips instead of the kiss.
The Muddy Buddies were good. I accidentally forgot the vanilla extract when I made them and honestly, I couldn't tell the difference. I don't think anyone else could either.
The Snickerdoodles: Really good... stayed chewy... but a note about storage: I put them all in a ziploc bag.... I wouldn't recommend that. A few of em were all crumbled by the end of the weekend. Definitely make sure you have a tupperware container available for them.
The marshmallow's were a huge hit. They taste amazing in Archer Farms Dark Chocolate Cocoa (from Target). And to be totally honest, I'm convinced that marshmallows are the easiest way to impress people with your confectionery skills. While a bit time consuming and messy, they really aren't hard to make at all... and you have no idea how many times I got the reaction "Oh my god! I didn't even know you could make marshmallows at home!"

Ah yes... and the White Trash.... it was a hit as usual... and it was decided by members of my family that it will from this day forward be known as Palin Munch.

That is all.