COOKIES Again: Tis The Season

Right now, I have a lot of Christmas cookies in my freezer. Unfortunately, I believe I have an equal amount in my stomach.

Having spent a large portion of the day yesterday measuring, mixing, rolling, and of course tasting, I have a good head start on the holiday sweets. After last year when I spent nine straight hours baking, and during which time I consumed a bottle of wine and a shitload of cookies, I thought this year I would break up the baking into a couple of days. Double the cookies, double the alcohol. How can that be bad? Don't ever call me a glass half-empty girl.

I still have a lot of baking to do. Five more varieties at least, plus I need to frost or fill some of those that are now in the freezer. After that, it's time to fill the tins. You think baking is a pain, try filling tins for close to a dozen separate friends and family members. Who gets nuts, who doesn't. Who likes these, who likes those. While most are happy with whatever they get, the closer the friend or family member, the pickier they seem to become.

In the end, everyone is happy and I swear next year I will cut down on the cookies...baking them that is, not eating them.

Got milk?

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Christmas Cookie Marathon: The Day After

So the cookie event began at 9:30 Saturday morning and I called it a day, one bottle of wine (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) and 9 1/2 hours later.  Seven different kinds of cookies, and I left the butter cookies until Sunday because I wasn't sure if my cookie press would hold up...it didn't.

Sunday was my birthday and it started out well enough.  At 2:30 in the morning as I am sleepily walking to the bathroom, my significant other decides he wants to give me a birthday kiss...scared the shit out of me...but the thought was nice.

Walked the dog in the freezing cold...where was the significant other now you ask... sleeping with a bad foot...let's not go down that road right now.

As the morning progressed and I realized I would not be leaving the weekend house in time to get home for kickoff, I sent the "Other" and his friend home early with the dog.  I stayed behind to finish baking, do laundry, separate the cookies and clean the kitchen.  Happy Birthday to me.  Getting them out of the house, loading the cooler while baking..burned a batch of cookies, then the cookie shooter decided to give me a hard time...so I killed it.  Put the sucker right out of my misery.  Go to plan B, buy a new one and finish the cookies during the week.

I need to test at least one cookie from every batch to be sure they are fit for consumption, so my caloric intake all day consisted of cookies and wine. 

Happy Birthday to me.  

Christmas Cookies: The Marathon Begins

It's time to bake the cookies. 

The joy of Christmas cookies is in the eating, not the baking. 

While it is fun to have a glass of wine or four while baking, it does tend to screw up the measuring process.  Having friends or family to help is also fun, but they tend to become bored after the second batch or so.  Then you end up in the kitchen...alone, with flour everywhere and an empty bottle of wine.  Luckily, that can be corrected.

This year, the plan is for at least 7 or 8 different types of cookies.  Tasty indeed, but exhausting to even think about.  After they are baked, they need to be separated into tins for friends and family...all those people who get to eat them without any work involved.  Nuts for this person, no nuts for that one.  It's like separating leftovers from a Thanksgiving dinner for traveling care packages...a giant pain in the ass.

However, everyone seems to enjoy them and so this weekend there will be cookie dough, sprinkles and chocolate chips in every grout line of my tile floor...along with a few empty wine bottles.

ho ho ho.