Cookie Creations

Our Holiday cookie exchanges have mostly ended and the cookies have been either eaten by my kids or packed up in pretty cellophane bags with ribbon for teachers or our trusty mailman. Even as the cookies are dwindling, my thoughts of the time Liz and I spent together making them remain strong.

This year, Liz and I were baking partners for two exchanges. We set out to make fancy iced and decorated cookies. Now usually, we prefer an improvisational style — we don’t use recipes and generally cook with ingredients we have on hand. So, a baking date for fancy cookies was a challenge for us, something that would require several time slots, some organization and a good deal of patience. With twenty four dozen cookies to make and decorate, it was an understatement to say we had a hefty task ahead of us.

To make our endeavor easier and increase the likelihood that it would turn out to be fun, we baked our cookies in advance of our decorating dates. We then spread out into my dining room and worked like fairies icing, sprinkling and creating Santa, Star and Gingerbread house cookies.

We chit-chatted side by side, catching up on our busy lives. It was quality friend time amidst a crazy season of school parties, plays and holiday shopping.

If I say so myself, we did a great job together and our stained glass stars even won “most original” cookie at Kathe’s exchange. It has been a bit tough for Liz and I to connect over the last week, so I am thankful for the time we had together. Isn’t it the moments with family and friends that give holidays meaning?