You should see the floor of my office — it's trashed with cookbooks and cooking magazines. This is the time of year I begin to madly pull things off shelves and out of baskets, in search of my favorite cookie and holiday baking recipes.

The first place I look is in a spiral-bound notebook my mother put together for me when I left home years ago. A lot of our favorite family recipes are in that notebook, now stuffed with magazine clippings and print-outs and held together by a couple of big rubber bands.

But today I couldn’t find my mom’s Snickerdoodle recipe, so I did some old-style surfing (no internet) and paged through the Joy of Cooking, The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, and a few of Fine Cooking magazine's special editions on Cookies.

I looked at various Snickerdoodle recipes and put together my own, a wee bit shy on the flour to make a thinner cookie. (The cream of tartar in this classic New England cookie is what lends the chew and the slightly tangy flavor.)

Into the kitchen I went, and soon a grey day was looking a little brighter.

Each year, after I make the family favorites — including my mom’s Holiday Cut-Out Cookie recipe that has a little orange zest in it — I move on to my favorite Abby Dodge recipes, with these Butter Pecan Slice-and-Bake Cookies at the top of the list. Last year I discovered that bite-size pieces of her Double Chocolate Cream Cheese Fudge Brownies also round out a gift box nicely.

Thanks to Chrissy Kinsman of Pie Chicks, I also added the Vineyard Salted Cranberry Bar to my repertoire last year. Chrissy, send us another cookie recipe this year, please?

We all need more cookie recipes, more holiday baking, more comfort this year, and for that reason, we’ll be sure to supply you with ideas and recipes over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, what’s for dinner this week after last week’s overindulgence? We’re eating another version of veggie fried rice (this one with red cabbage and Brussels sprouts) to move some of those leftover veggies out of the fridge.

And we've got our heart set on nabbing some bay scallops this week, so a simple Scallop Sauté with Lemon-Orange Pan Sauce over Five-Minute Polenta is in store, I think.

Our hero vegetable this week: cremini mushrooms. Here’s one of my all-time favorite mushroom recipes: Mahogany Mushrooms. You could serve those over Green Rice with some crispy Roasted Chickpeas and call it dinner.

And speaking of mushrooms and rice, be sure to check out Cathy Walthers’ new recipes for Shiitake Mushroom Burgers and Rice and Bean Veggie Burgers, which accompany her story for the latest edition of Martha's Vineyard magazine, The Not-Just-for Vegans Burger. I’m with Cathy – the idea of fake meat does not appeal to me, and I’m happy with a veggie burger that’s proud of its veggie roots. One more veggie burger recipe to try: Chickpea Burgers with Yogurt Sauce.

Those recipes should keep things light — unless your kitchen counters are covered with cookie sheets (like mine are!). Oh well, there’s always January.

See you on Instagram @cookthevineyard.