Well, we opted for the Valentine's Day cookies, only I must have forgotten something in my mother's recipe -- or I wasn't able to decipher her hadwriting.

The dough was nice and light, but it didn't roll out very well -- too sticky. I should have added powdered sugar, which oddly enough wasn't on the recipe she gave me, but I remember her putting it in.

Anyway, we put it in a sheet pan and baked it and cut the cookies out once they were baked. They tasted really good, and Gabe ate about half the pan after dinner.

It was a good way to initiate the new countertops -- squishy cookie dough smeared all over them.

We started decorating a little bit. I bought a basket to put up above the cabinets to store some of my mint molds and cake decorating equipment and finally put all of the cookbooks away.

I still need to hang some things on the walls, but we're getting closer.

Tonight we're making meat loaf and testing out that convection oven.