Christmas Cookie Time

Since it is officially December today, I feel it is acceptable to begin the popular Christmas cookie discussion. Everyone loves Christmas cookies; there are so many different varieties that it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t have a favorite. There are the classic cookies, chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin and the elegant cookies like gingerbread and iced sugar cookies and then there are cookies that are unique to each family, sand tarts or pumpkin.

Growing up, my mom would make many different kinds of Christmas cookies and on top of that my grandmother would make totally different kinds than my mom made. For a kid, this was a perfect situation and my brother and I would eat Christmas cookies well into the New Year. Another “use” for all the cookies was gifts. My mom made nice bags of cookies for our teachers at school, neighbors and friends, all decorated in holiday bags and ready to be opened and eaten immediately. They really are a great gift; what is better than homemade cookies?

Now that I’m grown, there is not as much need for SO many cookies and my mom has decreased her production levels in an effort to save those few extra cookie pounds from attaching to her and my dad’s waist. I have started making a few kinds of cookies but no where near what my mother used to take on. I have discovered that I like to spread out the Christmas cookies all month long and now operate on system in which I made 1-2 kinds of cookies each week for the weeks leading up to Christmas. This way we can enjoy each kind and no cookies go to waste. It also eliminates the marathon baking sessions I remember participating in as a child where we churned out 7 varieties of cookies in 1 day. Those were a lot of work, and a lot of fun, especially when my aunts, cousins and grandma got together but its not as easy to find a time when we can all do that anymore.

I’m going to adopt the same strategy this year as in years past with a little exception. We have decided to have a Christmas party again this year (which we like to have during the week between Christmas and New Years). This means I’ll be needing extra cookies for the party. I’m going to attempt to make cookies that freeze well earlier in the month and freeze some and then make a larger amount close to Christmas. I plan to start this weekend!

One of my Christmas wishes, is to get some more dialogue going here on the blog. I have a feeling there are people reading this that want to comment but hesitate. Please feel free to comment! Nothing makes my day more than the little email I get saying I got a comment but even better is when that comment is not spam (I get alot of spam)! So let’s hear it, what is your favorite Christmas cookie? Got any great memories of baking cookies during the holidays? Or of finding cookies half eaten by Santa on Christmas morning? I love hearing what you think!