What do Santa’s elves make sandwiches with?

        It’s nearly Christmas, and I missed it last year on my blog. I said it was because I was just too busy, but as experienced by many people around the world during the holidays, I get blue during winter and the holidays. I think it’s the lack of sunshine for one. I just can’t function without it. But then there is the god-awful job market. It’s been nearly a year and I still haven’t found a replacement job. But I really think it’s because my father died 22 days before Christmas from a terminal illness the year I turned 14. I think it still affects my ability in some way to really get excited about Christmas. I am making the decision to pull myself up by my bootstraps and get out of this nearly 6 month (ughhh) writing funk I’ve been in.

        So I’ve been listening to my self-prescribed daily dose of Christmas music at maximum volume, and at times, singing along. I put up the Christmas tree and decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving (to the very loud protest of my husband, the Grinch) and this week I start baking.  I made cranberry chutney for neighbor gifts during Thanksgiving, but it’s the sweets that really make the season. The problem is sweets really give me a tummy ache and sometimes a toothache so I lean toward the lesser sweet items during the year, but Christmas calls for pulling out the big guns - Paula Deans of butter and pounds of sugar. Today Shortbread made the top of the Must-Make List. I love shortbread. So sweet and buttery and smooth and tender – especially with a hot cup of coffee…excuse me for a minute while I go top off my cup.

Let it snow Cookies!

Handmade gifts, including home cooked gifts really exemplify the giving nature of the holiday season. When mass produced items eclipsed lovingly created gifts, something of Christmas was lost forever. That’s why I bake. It is my way of putting me into my giving. Christmas is one of the greatest times for people who do not cook to get into the kitchen and try their hand at something. It also is a time for experienced cooks to get in the kitchen and prove their salt worth.

This it the perfect time for you to involve your children and your families in creating something that says you are important to me. It is a time to bond and for many it can be very educational. Sugar cookies are a wonderful opportunity for parents to tell the Christmas story, selecting nativity cookie cutters that are in the shapes of Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wisemen, Baby Jesus, donkeys and camels. Jewish parents can purchase Hanukkah cookie cutters in the shape of a menorah, torah, chai, dreidle, star and shofar. African American parents can purchase cookie cutters in the shape of a chalice, fruits and vegetables for the Masao, a candle holder, corn, and gifts for their Kwanzaa celebration and serve them a on straw mat. And by now I’m sure you’ve got the point.

My recipe is eggless due to the food allergies in my family, but the benefit is that you little ones can play with and eat as much of the dough they want without worrying about contamination from uncooked eggs. I also use real butter in my sugar cookies.  It’s an obsession of mine.