Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

We have a yearly family tradition of getting together during the holidays to make Christmas cookies. We always do sugar cut-out cookies and of course gingerbread men. We use cookie cutters that have been in the family for many generations and we all have our favorite cookie cutters. We actually have so many that some hardly ever get used. We argue over who is going to inherit which ones, but of course in reality we are going to share them forever.

Mom normally mixes up the dough the day before, the kids get to cut and decorate, I typically oversee the event and handle the oven (you see I don't like my cookies crispy ~ so I under bake them a touch ~ they are still yummy), Dawn is a great cleaner-upper and the rest of the gang taste tests as we go.

We cut, bake, decorate and eat all afternoon.

Here is Katie - she is old enough now to take over the task of rolling out the dough to just the right thickness. She did a fine job!

Nikki enjoying being in on the action this year.

Sarah decorating - notice the assembly line action.

Michelle teaching Nikki the fine art of flouring the cookie cutter just right so the dough doesn't stick

Mitch getting in on the action - it takes many bakers to get all of the cookies made!

Workers

Erika, Michelle and I

Erika and Tim ~ this was his first time baking so many cookies with us..welcome to our crazy household Tim! (hope we didn't scare him away Erika....) And notice Dawn cleaning away in the background.

Good, he is still smiling

Nikki concentrating on making the biggest and best bear cookie there ever was.

Sadly Mr. Bear did not survive being baked and transferred to the cooling rack...he sure tasted good though

We didn't just make cutout cookies - we also made chocolate/chocolate chip ones, snickerdoodles, and pecan sandies.

One tray done! We laugh because every year we say we aren't going to make as many. Everyone is so in to the process in the beginning ~ but after a tray or two the kids all seem to disappear and mom and I continue to bake by ourselves. This year people did come back and finish the decorating though. I think they must of heard me grumbling....

There were cookies everywhere. Some were packed up to give to the neighbors, many were eaten during the process and the rest we are still enjoying. The sugar ones are especially good with a cup of coffee in the morning!

Come join us next year ~ it truly is a ton of fun!

Debbie