Nutella Pinwheel Cookies & Christmas Magic

“Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.  In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.”  ~Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas

There are moments in life that I wish I could package up and save for later to re-experience over and over.  Christmastime took on a deeper meaning for me 4 years ago today.  December 16th, 2006 was a Saturday.  That morning I was at Aiiku Hospital in Tokyo, Japan.

I had been in labor with Squirrel for 24 hours when a doctor put a cell phone up to my ear. The voice on the other end was my OB/GYN, Dr. Sakamoto, telling me that something was wrong and that if we didn’t act quickly Squirrel was not going to survive. I remember not being able to respond because a nurse was slipping an oxygen mask over my face. I remember the confused and worried look on Mr. Fuji’s face as I was being wheeled out. He didn’t know yet what was going on, and with the oxygen mask over my mouth all I could do was to tell him that everything was going to be okay as they wheeled me out the door.

A few minutes later Dr. Sakamoto arrived as I was prepped for surgery. Mr. Fuji came in all dressed up in scrubs. He got to sit by my head and hold my hand. I couldn’t see anything but him because they had put the surgical guard very close to my head, so I watched him the whole time. He was awesome. He watched the whole thing and never flinched once. They quickly had Squirrel out and dangled her over my face so that I could get a glimpse of her before rushing her away to take care of her.  She was quite the impressive shade of blue and the only bit of her that I really got to see was her bum (but it was a very cute blue bum). That first little cry she made when they pulled her out was the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.  I know from pictures, and from what Mr. Fuji and Fuji Nana tell me that Squirrel was putting on quite a show in the NICU. She was kicking around and trying to eat the edge of the oxygen hood.

I finally got to see her sweet face for the first time about 6 hours later and fell instantly in love.

Now Christmastime is a time when I am filled with gratitude for the birth of my own little Christmas miracle.

Christmastime is a treasure trove of special moments.  I have always loved the Christmas season, but it has taken on extra shine for me now that I have children.  Although Christmas has been fun in years past, this is the first year where I can tell that Squirrel is old enough to understand that it’s an extra special time of year.  The first time we turned off the lights in the living room and flipped the switch that lit the lights on the Christmas tree, you could see the delight on her face.  Now she she keeps running into the living room to make sure that the tree is still there, and as soon as it starts to get the least bit dark outside, she is quick to remind me that the lights need to be turned on.  Yesterday I watched her as she carefully decorated her letter to Santa asking him to bring her a pair of roller skates, her tongue sticking out one side of her mouth as she concentrated on making sure the letter was perfect.

This year we will be making careful preparations for Santa’s arrival.  Squirrel and I have been talking about making some special cookies to leave out for him with a glass of milk on Christmas Eve.  We will be making Nutella Pinwheel Cookies.  I dreamed these cookies up for the special holiday issue of GtwoKitchen, an online food magazine started recently by the talented Giulia and Genny.

They are orange scented sugar cookies twirled around a Nutella ribbon.  They are bound to make Santa happy, as well as any little elves you might bring into the kitchen to help you make them!  You can get the recipe from the English edition (or the Italian edition!) of the Holiday Issue of GtwoKitchen on pages 16 through 19.

Happy 4th Birthday to my sweet little stick of blond dynamite.  And Happy Holidays to all you, my dear readers!  May the coming days be filled with the magic of the season as we enjoy the festivities, and may we remember what is truly important in our lives—each other.