Every year I have grand plans of being super on top of things, with homemade gifts at the ready for friends and family, holiday cards done and mailed well in advance, and nothing to do but admire twinkle lights and watch Love Actually and Elf on a repeat loop. I dream of a stress-free holiday, where I throw festive dinner parties during which I have done all my prep ahead of time so I’m showered and primped for guests instead of frenzied and a little sweaty. I fantasize about making beautifully wrapped presents with things like DIY pom poms and handcrafted gift tags.

Alas, a girl can dream.

This year, I was able to accomplish a fraction of these things, all while frantically getting my last minute travel plans together…to PERU!!! That’s right, friends! As we speak, I am in the land of ceviche and pisco sours. I’ll be headed up to Machu Picchu in a few short days, and then can’t wait to cook and eat and shop with a fellow food blogger in Lima, the lovely Morena of Peru Delights! I have also already made the delightful discovery that alpacas are indeed my spirit animal.

So, I’ll be going dark until the new year. But before I go, I wanted to leave you with this classic sugar cookie recipe. I love it because not only does it give you a delightfully chewy sugar cookie (which is rare), it is so simple and absolutely no fuss. You can whip this up in the midst of holiday craziness no problemo – no electric mixer needed, you don’t even need to have softened butter ready (because, let’s be real, who has time to plan ahead for things like softened butter this time of year).