Baking cookies

I baked my Christmas Cookies on Sunday. No not really. I planned on it. Then I realized I was actually dreading baking. Stressing in fact. And why? Nobody was awaiting cookies baked by little 'ol me. It was all on me - pressure I was putting on myself. So I took it off.

I went to Trader Joe's and bought my favorite cookies there. I was happy. I don't care what people think. I did make Mexican dip in the crock pot for Food Day at work Monday. I fried hamburger and everything. Impressive, I know!

Bill Blum, my co-worker made chocolate salad. He took over that job from our former boss, Al, who was single. Chocolate salad involves bringing a bowl and pouring in various types of chocolate - like little caramels and Kit Kats and M&Ms, chocolate covered raisins. There are all sorts of possibilities! 

Later yesterday I noticed my next door (cubicle) neighbor Amy Wilkin scored a chocolate mouse. Someone gave it to her. It was darling. A chocolate covered cherry with chocolate kiss and almond sliver ears on top of a cookie. I posted a picture of this on Facebook and suggested that Jud's girl Kara might like to make these...she likes to do food art. The next thing I knew there was a whole string of messages from my nieces, Leslie and Jordan talking about how my daughter Amy wouldn't eat such a thing because it has a face...

It's true. Amy has lived by that rule for quite some time. Jordan mentioned that Amy will eat hamburgers - that are made from something that really did have a face at one time. PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals). Sorry vegetarian friends. Couldn't resist. Amy finally stood up for herself on Facebook - asking, "Did no one else see Shrek? "Not the gumdrop buttons" scarred me for life!" Ah how I loved the Gingerbread Man! (Not enough to stop eating things with faces).

My mother baked every Christmas. She made two kinds of cut out cookies. traditional sugar and a thin spice cookie that are truly my favorite. The spice cookie recipe is a family one - but I seem to be the only one in our family that really likes them. Amy and Jud weren't ever wild about them and Paul isn't a cookie guy. So there's just me. Not worth cutting out cookies for. I'll eat Trader Joe's almond cookies instead.

Mom used to bake the cookies when we weren't around. At least I don't remember that part. She did let us help frost. We would sit at the kitchen table with table knives and frost away. That frosting was some rich stuff! We'd decorate with sprinkles, red hots and those little silver things that look like beebees.

Then mom would layer the cookies into Lorraine Lingerie boxes with wax paper in between layers. She'd put the cookies into the upright deep freeze in the laundry room. Mom got pretty cranky when she found that some of the layers were gone by the time she got the cookie box out. When playing downstairs we'd sneak into the laundry room and snitch cookies!

I do have good memories of baking cookies with Amy and Jud. And some hormonal memories - one needs patience to roll out cookie dough. I didn't always have it. Does it scar children for life to see dough thrown up against the kitchen wall? Oops. I hope my little lumps of dough children turn out okay anyway...they're frosted pretty well!