Let’s Talk Cookies (and beyond)

I LOVE cookies. I was a cookie monster before there was a Cookie Monster. So it is kind of sad that there will be no cookie baking in my house this Christmas. It’s not that I’ve suddenly become anti-cookie, nor has there been a Tragedy.

I just don’t have any of the things you need to make cookies. I haven’t completely moved into the Wyoming house. All my recipes, pans, mixing bowls and mixer—all of it is at Southern Command.

It’s probably not a good thing to have cookies on the brain, but I fear that as long as I have a brain, there will be cookies on it.

Or something like that.

So, I write fiction, so thought I’d just imagine some of my favorite cookies.

And then I might have to run to the store and stock up on something to kill the cravings.

In the meantime, let’s talk cookies. What cookies do you associate with the holidays?

At our house, as near as I can recollect, we went with the basics:

• Sugar cookies
• Gingerbread people and houses
• Our version of fruitcake was more like a cookie. My mom put gumdrop fruitcake instead of fruit whatevers that people put in fruit cake.
• Chocolate chip
• Snickerdoodles
• Peanut butter

I don’t think we made all of them every year. But usually we tried to have some sugar cookies to decorate because who doesn’t love a massive, sticky mess at Christmas?

We were also big on candy making. Fudge, divinity, fudge. Yeah, we like the fudge. And I have peculiar weakness for gingerbread houses that my kids are always hoping I’ll forget about. I am really, really, really, really bad at doing all things gingerbread house related. Construction, design, you name it, I suck at it. Even the kits that turn it into gingerbread-houses-for-dummies.

I’m worse than a dummy. Even with precut pieces, I make gingerbread disasters.

So I try not to make eye contact with gingerbread houses in any shape or form at any time in December. Once it’s January, I’m moving on to Valentine’s candy.

The good news is that all my gingerbread house ruining stuff is also at Southern Command.

So, what kind of cookies and other stuff are you dreaming about today? Planning to make this month? If you can, post some recipes. Next year I plan to be up and cookie making again (but NO gingerbread houses. None. Not anymore! I’m over them. Really…ooh, gingerbread kit I’ve not tried…) What do you look forward to/fear this holiday season? I love comments so much that I pick a favorite to receive my monthly AnaBanana gift basket ($25 value).  Recipient is announced the first blog post of the new month.

Perilously yours,

Pauline