Holiday Baking (sort of..)

Well, in all my efforts to create wonderful and warm memories of Christmas for my children I decided I would bake. I love baking and the smell of baked goods- however, the extent of my baking expertise goes only as far as Betty Crocker cookies from a bag mix or a variety of Duncan Hines cake mixes from a box. I decided this year, though, if I really wanted to be like a real mom I would need to bake sugar cookies from scratch for my darling children to decorate. Thus began my endeavor into baking.

I interviewed friends to find out what kind of cookies they made and how they made them. What I was really doing was fishing for someone to give me the answer I wanted. An answer that would go something like, "Well, you buy the premade mix, flatten it out with your hands. Oh, no need for a roller. Then just use those cute cookie cutters to cut them into fabulous Christmas shapes." I never got that answer. So plan B, look online and through some magazines (of which I own, none) and find a recipe. A coworker and friend of mine, who loves to bake and scrapbook, and knows all kinds of things about cooking and having a proper household, brought in a magazine to work, possibly Southern Living. I thumbed through it at lunch one day and found a doable recipe, by Paula Dean. I thought, this has more than four ingredients, but I think I can manage. On the page were these delicate little star sugar cookies.

The recipe stated that I would need somewhere around eight ingredients, double my typical limit. My limit is typically four, after that I find it too cumbersome to be enjoyable. But, I thought, my children and I need these memories and pictures so I will persevere. I even bought a Wilton cookie baking pan that had the "cut outs" in the pan. I don't have a roller or the special paper the recipe said I need to actually roll out the dough, so I thought the pan would be a good idea.

I avoided the task for a few nights, then I decided it was time. I started adding the ingredients. It was going well until I discovered I didn't have vanilla in my house. Oh well, it was such a small amount I decided to skip that one. I kept going, then I got to "baking powder", or was it "baking soda"? Either one, I had none, nor did Brent or I know what it was, or further what it looked like if I did have it. About that time my phone rang. It was my neighbor. Great, I thought, I will see if she has any vanilla. (I didn't want to appear too incompetent by asking for two ingredients so I asked for the one I believed to be most important. Totally random guess). She had some and sent it over. Well, I got it all mixed and had Blaine's assistance patting the dough into the pan. About 20 minutes later they were out and ready to decorate. They certainly did not look like the picture, but that did not seem to bother Blaine. He happily helped me decorate them.

How did they taste? Funny you should ask. Did you realize that while people often leave out carrots for the reindeer, few people leave out home baked, made from scratch cookies? Well, in my home it is a new tradition. Yes, we are just that thoughtful! Not a detail goes unnoticed or unforgotten in my household. Blaine took the first bite, he chewed for a minute, looked at me with a hesitant face and stated, "Mommy, I think something is wrong with these." I dismissed his snobby taste by telling him that I sort of left out an ingredient. He asked which one, I told him. His response, "Mommy, can we please use baking powder next year when we bake?"

I had to think back on my main objectives for this task:

1. Start a new tradition- check

2. Spend family time with kids creating- check

3. Keep the kids from eating too many sweets around the holidays- check

I must say, I don't know how I manage to accomplish all I do, but I simply do. Here's to new traditions!