Well, it's December 1st, and in my house that signals the start of Christmas baking.
My twin sister used to be the baker in the family, and for years and years she would bake for the entire month. My other sisters and I would each contribute 3 or 4 types of cookies to her 12.....
But you have to remember we're not talking about 30 or 40 of each type of cookie....nooooooooooo we're talking 120 of each type of cookie with is tripling or quadrupling each recipe.
On December 23rd, all of us would gather at my mothers house and spend an entire day wrapping and delivering cookies to relatives and friends.
About 10 years ago my sister decided NO MORE!!!
I don't know how you do that, but that's exactly how it happened. She called me that year and said, "the baking is ruining the holidays for me, and I'm stopping it."....and that was that.
Almost. The fact of the matter is, I couldn't resign myself to the idea that all of a sudden one day everyone we'd given cookies to for 20 years wouldn't get them. And so, I picked up this tradition myself.
I had to cut back the scale some. And many of the relatives we baked for have since passed on, but I still bake for my sisters and brother, my mother and several of her neighbors, 2 aunts, 1 uncle, my mother in law, 4 sisters in law, and several of my own neighbors.
My children all help with the baking, and our goal is 15 different types of cookies.....at least 100 of each, by December 23. On that day, we wrap and deliver cookies.
I love doing this. I love bringing something made by my hands and the hands of my kids to the people I care about. I love wrapping the cookies carefully in little wax paper and baggies to keep them fresh...I love decorating the containers with bows and ribbons so that the box looks festive and inviting....
So, being that it's December 1st, I'm working on compiling the list of cookies i'm baking this year. I hope to have itcomplete by Sunday.
Let's share some cookie recipes! Do you have a favorite one?
Here's an easy one of mine:
Secret's Magic Bars
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 cup butter (4 ounces)
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips (or milk chocolate)
- 1/2 cup butterscotch chips (or peanut butter)
- 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut (3 ounces)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350° or 325° for glass pan. In 13 x 9 inch baking pan, melt butter in the preheating oven. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over butter; mix together and press over bottom of pan to form crust. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumbs. Top evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool thoroughly before cutting into squares. Store loosely covered at room temperature or refrigerate.
