2002 - Sugar Cookies in a Snap(shot)

This morning I was saying, "Ahh!" Now I'm saying, "Argh!" And marveling at the late hour. I started early by slicing up the Lime Meltaway logs. Apart from taking a long time to bake (15 minutes), they're fairly easy. It's a shame so many of them kept breaking and I had to eat them! (heh heh!) I froze the baked cookies on sheets, then stacked them in holiday baking cups, before storing them in tins. They're tucked away in the freezer now till tray-loading time. Freezing before stacking should keep them from sticking together like they did last year. A golden, citrus-y yield of 5 1/2 dozen should be adequate.

Now, I must say, only the truly dedicated (demented?) bother to bake Sugar Cookies. They can be SO much work! What's more, Charlie woke up while I was cranking them out, making it very difficult to concentrate. I used Martha's recipe again - just a nice, plain Sugar Cookie. She calls for cooling cookies on parchment in the fridge or freezer before baking. It helps them keep their shape, which makes icing them easier.

I made a dozen each of trees, bells, holly leaves, snowmen, candy canes and stars (6 dozen), and used the scraps for a dozen and a half mini trees - they're so cute! Charlie helped: he super-imposed a star on a snowman, dusted a few stars with flour, and dropped his (wet!) candy cane in the flour canister!

Before I  put Charlie to bed, I mixed up some Royal Icing (using Just Whites powdered egg whites) and generally got everything together so I could start icing cookies in the morning. Once he went off, though, I figured I would be better off getting them done while he wasn't around. I was up till 2 a.m.

I used the outline-then-fill method, which works really well and isn't as messy as just slapping it on there. I also used my frosting tips and bags for the first time. It was all very professional, I must say.

I gave the candy canes stripes, of course. The trees have stars on top and multi-colored ornaments. The holly leaves have three red-hot berries each. The bells are red, with red hots for handles and silver-dragee clappers. And the blue stars have a silver dragee on each point.

By the time I finished all those cookies, I didn't even want to do all the mini trees that I thought were so cute earlier. But Neil came in and he put the decorations on after I frosted them white (they had yellow stars on top and green sugar sprinkles.) I left them out overnight to set, and froze them this morning. They looked so pretty and festive all over the table that I got Neil to take a photo.

It's 2 a.m. - I'm going to bed now!

2002 - Let's Roll!

I made Grandma Baker's Criss-Cross Cookies (peanut butter) because I prefer it to the "Joy of Cooking" recipe. The recipe calls for the dough to be chilled, though, and I'm not sure it needs it. It made the dough crumbly and harder to roll into balls. I think it's better to roll the balls, roll them in sugar, make the criss-crosses, then refrigerate the tray while another tray is baking.

Charlie's tricycle on Christmas morning.

They turned out beautifully. Once again, with my oven, rotation was the key. I wound up with six dozen (plus two) and Charlie ate one fresh from the oven when he woke from his nap. I froze all but two singles. Then I went straight into the Lime Meltaways. I love the way they smell - when I'm making and again when I'm baking. All I did today was mix the dough and shape it into rolls. I'll bake them tomorrow.

I took a break to put together the tricycle we got Charlie for Christmas. It's a beaut! It's blue chrome, has a bucket in the back and a long handle for me to push him around - I love it and cannot wait for Christmas morn! We walked to the bookstore to get a Christmas present for my brother Frank.

After supper, I whipped up a batch of Sugar Cookies (from Martha Stewart's 2001 Holiday issue). That dough is in the fridge too. I'll bake those tomorrow too, but frost them another day. Only 13 days till Charlie and I go see Grandma!

1999 - Short and Sweet

I had to go it alone this year because our work schedules weren't compatible. So, on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 4 and 5, I made eight dozen Peanut Butter Cookies and 12 dozen Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies. Then I made seven dozen Dunkable Brownies (they smelled too good not to sample immediately) and 11 dozen Lime Meltaways.

The Lime Meltaways are easy slice and bake cookies that are so light and fragrant, they became a quick favorite. It's nice to have a citrus cookie to offset all the chocolate too. They're covered in powdered sugar but the discs themselves aren't very sweet, so it's a winning combo. Just be careful when you shake them in the powdered sugar or you'll have to eat many, many casualties! Michelle was with me for these and she loved mixing the leftover lime juice with sugar for a refreshing limeade.

I gave Lisa half of everything and packed up some of mine to send to Neil in England. (I met him at the Breeders' Cup in Miami in November.) I also sent him some of Mom's Pumpkin Bread.

I wore my Christmas apron and played music but I missed Lisa, especially for the music and the pizza! I cried when Johnny Mathis came on singing "Sleigh Bells" because it reminded me of Dad. He always made fun of Mathis and sang, "Sleighb'lls." I miss him and his sense of humor so much.

Lisa made Magic Cookie Bars, a new entry that layers a mere five ingredients, including Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk into a luscious, but easy-to-make, bar. She also made fudge - chocolate and chocolate-peanut butter - which she shared, of course. I missed baking with her this year and I hope we can find time to get together next Christmas.