The holidays are upon us! When we were little kids, they were all about unwrapping our stuff and waiting for our Daddy to put the things together. We had no cares -- other than trying not to lodge a Barbie stiletto in our instep.

Now, we fit in addressing cards, waiting in post office lines, budgeting, cooking and cleaning with the rest of our lives.

This year, some lucky few of you will be receiving homemade cookies from me. This year's recipe is from Dining by Fireflies, by the Junior League of Charlotte. I'm not a member of the Junior League myself, but I know those gals sure can cook! I first saw this cookbook at the Charlotte airport, on the way home from judging a beauty pageant in Hickory, N.C. As is usually the case with me at the end of a trip, I was tapped out. But as soon as I came home, I ordered it from the 'net...and have been using it ever since. They've changed editions since that time, so you'll have to get it off Amazon.com.

The picture above was taken an embarrasingly long time ago, for my performances with the Chicago Symphony. I was the youngest girl to ever solo with them at the age of 12, which I did for 8 sold-out performances of 5,000 people each.

I always loved performing, but hated practicing. My hats off to the musicians who put in the woodshedding. You don't think about that part when you're enjoying a live show, do you? Maybe, now you will...

Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!
- Tamar