Baking and Decorating

Gosh, it's hard to photograph food so it looks tasty.

We've outdone even our old record for cookies this year -- partly due to being trapped in the house by the weather. Here you see (left to right) Iced Oatmeal Cookies, Aunt Joan's Revel Bars, Peanut-Butter Blossoms, Almond-Cardamom Stars, Rum Balls, Apricot Balls, Molasses Cookies, and along the bottom, Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti, dipped in white chocolate. This is not a weight-loss Christmas for any of us.

FemmeDommi was to lead the 2nd Grade Cookie Decorating Project on the last day of school. School was canceled for snow (our schools were canceled three days last week; across the city, in the West Hills, lucky children had five snowdays, while their parents missed work and Christmas shopping, and cursed the city school board). So we ended up with four dozen sugar cookies (trees, bells and stars), two dozen tiny gingerbread men, and all the decorations. Today we had fun, and we'll deliver plates of these to our neighbors tomorrow.

I have been thinking of making a batch of Snickerdoodles as well. What's Christmas without Snickerdoodles? And we have no nut-cookies, no pecan sandies, no Russian teacakes. A gap in our selection, indeed. And the Texan has yet to make her stellar Linzertortes, either. So more cookies may be forthcoming.