Speaking Volumes

Christmas time, Cookie time! Our yearly tradition of cooking baking was in jeopardy of not happening this year as both my daughter Jill and I our having trouble getting into a festive spirit. The loss of my mother/her grandmother, Jean, and my brother/her uncle, Mike has left our hearts sad. Somehow though, we both felt making at least a few cookies, would help us feel better. We decided not to go whole hog, but to make just a few kinds that we love. Chocolate chip, Oatmeal Raisin, and Thumbprints with green and red jelly should do the trick.
 
This past Saturday we gathered in my kitchen, armed with flour, eggs, butter, and the rest of the ingredient to create out cheer. Nothing seemed to go right, not quite disastrous, but not quite picture perfect either. The chocolate chip mounds spread so much they actually overflowed the cookie sheet and into the oven, the oatmeal raisin took forever to bake, and the thumbprints looked like they had rabies, foaming at the mouth. We blamed one thing after another but the only thing we could come up with for the results was the butter. She had bought some brand at a warehouse food club. That had to be the problem as the cookies were oozing on the sheets, sort of like the fat coming out of them. I wonder if this will make them less caloric.
 
I was feeling bad for my daughter as she was frustrated by their outcome She is a great cookie baker and these were not up to par.
 
I quickly pointed out that they were indeed edible (except for the undercooked batch that we fed to the squirrels), and that everyone in our family would enjoy them Christmas Day as they were homemade and that’s what counts. After all, the real purpose of the cookie making is the sharing of the cookie baking, the time spent together, mother and daughter, laughing, talking, in the kitchen; that’s the Christmas spirit!
 
Picture of the cookies to follow…

If you’d like to try some new cookie recipes take a look at these that you’ll find on our shelves. The Gourmet Cookie Book is making its mark on all the 2010 best cooking books.


 
The Gourmet Cookie Book the single best recipe since 1941-2009


 
Cookie swap! : [with 71 fabulous recipes] / by Lauren Chattman.


 
Cookies to die for! / Bev Shaffer ; food photography and food styling by John R. Shaffer.


 
Cake mix cookies : more than 175 delectable cookie recipes that begin with a box of cake mix / Camilla V. Saulsbury.
 
and many, many more yummy books to inspire you can be found in the 641’s!