My updates are few and far between partly due to distractions like browsing for Aquatalia boots, especially thanks to Bing Cashback (offering 25% back on these boots in particular! – but still over my budget for winter boots in the Bay Area..)

My Pandora station is still stuck on Mariah Carey Christmas because I want Christmas to stick around just a little bit longer. I’m aiming to leave the lights up, put off the white elephant gift exchange until the new year and soak up the holidays for a bit longer!

Fun Holiday Happenings:
1. Santa’s Outhouse
Tony, David and I tied for 1st place at this year’s marketing party with our crooked winter outhouse. This is basically a gingerbread house turned on it’s side with a few added details. I wish I had made the time to add the toilet paper roll! (Pardon the image quality, this was taken with my Storm.)

2. 1st Annual DMT Bake-Off
Quite possibly a new DMT tradition. I made pumpkin mochi with a recipe forwarded by a couple of lovely friends from church and came in 2nd place. There are a few mochi recipes that can be found online but I used the one found at Kirbie Cravings.

Recipe for Pumpkin Mochi:
Ingredients
29 oz can Pumpkin puree
14 oz can Sweetened condensed milk
1 Cup of butter melted
4 Eggs, beaten
2 tsp Vanilla
1 lb box Mochiko-sweet rice flour
2 Cups Sugar
2 tsp Baking powder

Directions
1. In a medium bowl mix mochiko flour, baking powder.
2. In a large bowl mix all the other ingredients. Then add the dry ingredients.
3. Pour into a greased 13 by 9 inch baking dish.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Allow the cake to cool completely for a few hours before cutting and serving.

Lynn won 1st place (and an iPod Shuffle compliments of a generous boss) with her Almond Cake. (Recipe here, it deserves a post all its own…)

3. Extended Family Trip to Donner, Tahoe
I’m convinced that this needs to be an annual family event! 13 adults and 3 kids in one cozy house. Snowboarding, sledding, endless kalbi, Monopoly Deal (temporarily replacing Texas Hold ‘Em), Guesstures, Troy, and a short stop in Reno to eat buffet and watch Peter at the craps table. Great chance to test out my new Nikon D90!

Even a nasty 2-week cold couldn’t dampen the fun. Missing my family most around this time, much love to John and co. and the parents in China. Muah!

And of course, the real meaning of Christmas: (thanks D.D.!)