7 Days 'Til Christmas! (Day 18)

A week! That's all that you have left to finish your baking, your shopping, your gift wrapping, etc. For some reason this year I can only wrap 3 presents at a time before getting frustrated. I think it's because I have ALL of them in one small corner and they overwhelm me. I'm almost done though, only a few more to wrap.

So I am officially on holidays! I started this morning with Martha and Rachael Ray then made some focaccia bread and sugar cookie dough.

The bread is easy and tasty so I'm posting the recipe for y'all:

Sun-Dried Tomato Focaccia Bread

1. In a bowl, sprinkle 1 tsp of granulated sugar over 1 cup of warm water. Add 1 pkg of active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp) and let stand for about 10 minutes until the mixture looks frothy.
2. Mix in 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tbsp cornmeal. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until soft and elastic. Most recipes say to do this for upwards of 10 minutes but if you've ever kneaded dough you know that it really truly is an arm workout. I have never kneaded dough for 10 minutes. I've probably never kneaded dough for longer than 3, maybe 4 minutes so don't feel obliged to go the full 10 unless you want ABSOLUTELY perfect, recipe-proven results.
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm, dry place for about 45 minutes until doubled in size.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees . Punch dough down and knead in 3/4 cup of sun-dried tomatoes (use ones packed in oil, otherwise soak them in warm water for about 10 minutes first) then let the dough rest for 5 mins. Shape the dough into a rectangle and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Let rest for another 15 mins, covered with plastic wrap.
5. Press finger-tips into the dough to create the dimples then drizzle olive oil and coarse salt over the dough.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, then pull the bread out and sprinkle on the remaining 1/4 cup of sun-dried tomatoes. Bake for another 10 minutes.
7. Let cool, then cut and enjoy!

I also have yet to receive my ebay sweater (angry face) but I contacted the seller and she was so nice. She said that there had been a lot of reported mail-thefts in her area as of late and she went to the post office to check for me....long story but anyway I had to start making my own. I've been cutting out felt creations since last night and sewing them on. I'm not done yet though. Here's what I have so far:

I don't know what to put on the other side of the front....

I'm sewing these on and not gluing them because I want to keep this sweater and it'll make it easier to cut the decorations off later. Maybe Santa's naughty/nice list on the other side? Could be difficult to make though....

The party is tomorrow so I will be a busy bee but I will still post.
And now I must go get dressed! I'm going shopping for my bridesmaid dress today! Hurray!