Time for baking…..one of my favorite activities. It is even better around the holidays. I am still trying to learn how to decorate sugar cookies. I want them to look perfectly designed like in the photo above. Mine are not quite at that level YET. I will get there, with some perseverance.

What exactly is perseverance? According to Merriman-Webster (2022, para 1)

I have baked, decorated for hours, and tried to understand how to make the correct consistency of Royal icing. I am getting much better the more time I spend trying. It is much like anything else in life. Is there something you have really wanted to master yet you are having difficulty with perseverance? I urge you to keep trying. Have fun while learning.

I bought ingredients today to make “White Trash.” This delectable snack is made from cheerios, small stick pretzels, peanut m&m’s, rice chex, and melted white chocolate. My mouth is watering just thinking about making this treat. I usually make a batch of this around the Christmas holidays. I will be baking some cookies this week for a cookie swap we are having at work on Friday.

Baking Memories

Holiday baking brings back many fond memories. My Aunt Isabelle used to make Snowball cookies which were actually a round ball of cooked dates mixed with butter and rice crispies rolled in coconut. I have a stained recipe card written in her delicate cursive handwriting. She has been deceased for several decades now. I only ever make these cookies at Christmas. The house smells amazing when the dates are cooking. I usually am too quick to make balls out of the mixture, burning the palms of my hands in the process.

Another memory is of trying to make candy cane-shaped cookies with my mom. She is not much of a baker. I made the dough and separated it into a ball of red and a ball of white. We began the process of twisting small “worms” of the two colors together to form the candy cane. I admit that as the dough got warmer in between our hands it got sticky making the job a bit difficult. Well, Mom had dough sticking to her hands. She was getting frustrated trying to make the candy cane shapes. That year was the last time we made those cookies together. We laugh about it now. I like to joke around and suggest we make a batch of Candy Cake cookies together. I usually get the eye roll in return and we have a good chuckle.

Stressbuster

Baking cookies has been something I do as a stress buster. There is something relaxing in mixing the ingredients, smelling the cookies baking, then getting to bite into a fresh cookie. I enjoy making batches of cookies to give to other people. One of my neighbors has told me that anytime I want to bake to bring cookies over. A couple years ago we had a big ice storm that caused rolling blackouts. I timed the rolling blackouts to make a batch of easy cookies. I took a plate to two sets of neighbors. It was fun to try to beat the blackout and actually succeed at baking a batch of cookies!

I am not afraid to admit that sometimes I even use the prepared cookie dough or slice & bake variety. They come in handy when I really want the taste of freshly baked cookies but really don’t have the energy or time to put into making a batch from scratch. These types of cookies are also great to make with kiddos.

Whatever cookies you decide to make…and I urge you to give it a try…do it with gusto! Pour yourself a glass of wine. Turn on some Christmas music. Line up the ingredients on the counter and BAKE!