Take 2- December Secret Subject Swap

Welcome to Take 2 of December’s Secret Subject Swap, the second one this month. This week, 15 more bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swaps. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Cassandra's Corner
Moore Organized Mayhem
The Sadder But Wiser Girl
Stacy Sews and Schools 
Baking In A Tornado
Momaical
Macdonald's playland
Menopausal Mother
Dinosaur Superhero Mommy
Hungry Little Girl
Rushing for Bagels
Mommy Unmuted
3 Monkeys and a Martini
The Family Pants
Love Art Baby

My subject is: Will you be on Santa’s nice or naughty list this year? Give your reason why. It was submitted by: Cassandra's Corner.

Initially I thought that this was a strange subject for me to get given the fact that I’m Jewish, but the truth of the matter is that the concept of naughty or nice doesn’t belong to any one religion. So in that spirit I, like anyone else, should be able to answer this question.

As I thought about this prompt, two things came to mind. First, I’m going to have to make a list (and check it twice) to see if I come out naughty or nice. Second, and this is the big one: naughty or nice according to who? Because I was looking pretty good until my kids got a look at my list. They felt the need to, shall we say, add a little perspective? So now the list looks something like this:

Nice: I put dinner on the table every night.
Naughty (according to my kids): I put dinner on the table every night.

Nice: I bake all my kids’ favorite sweets and welcome all of their friends into the house. Their friends even stop in the kitchen to grab the snacks to take down to the basement.
Naughty: I may sneak a sample of some of those treats. In my defense, I’m just making sure no one gets sick so this could actually be another “nice”, right? Anyone with me?

White Chocolate Almond Cookies

No Santa, this is not a bride, bribes are naughty

Nice: I keep the basement fridge stocked with soda (and water and Gatorade) for the kids and their friends.
Naughty: I may be responsible for some of my kids’ friends’ dental bills.

Nice: I blog as a positive way to keep my brain active and engaged and to relieve stress.
Naughty: I may have bribed my kids to follow my blog.

Nice: I work to maintain relationships with people far away through FB and Twitter.
Naughty: I may also use FB and Twitter to spy on the kids.

Nice: I’ve tried to instill solid morals and values in my sons, although the jury is admittedly still out as to whether I’ve been able to swim up this particular stream.
Naughty (according to my kids): It appears that the use of “grounding” as a consequence to get this particular point across is not looked upon fondly by two other members of my household.

Nice: I do all of the shopping and the errands required to maintain a household.
Naughty: I may “not see” some of the items the kids add to those shopping lists.

Nice: When a friend or neighbor is sick, I always cook their family dinner and bring it to their home.
Naughty (according to my kids): Forcing friends’ kids to eat my cooking is torture.

Nice: I am honest
Naughty (according to my kids): I’m not honest about my cooking. Anyone sensing a theme here?

Nice: I bake for my husband’s charity committee meetings.
Naughty:

Wait a second. That last one is only nice. Does this mean? Is it possible? Yes! Nice! I made it onto the nice list.

Unless, of course, I’m still on the hook for that Christmas when I gave my son’s School Principal a lump of coal . . . literally . . . but that’s another story . . . for another day . . . or not.

White Chocolate Almond Cookies
                                  ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened

1 stick margarine, softened

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
*Beat butter, margarine, sugar, brown sugar, egg and almond until creamy.
*Mix in flour, baking soda, ginger, salt and cinnamon. Mix in white chocolate chips.
*Roll into 3/4 inch balls and place on cookie sheets. Gently flatten slightly with the heel of your hand.
*Bake for 12 minutes. Leave on cookie sheet for one minute before removing.