Christmas Baking

In my family, baking Christmas cookies is about as important as putting up a Christmas tree. We start baking as soon as Thanksgiving is over – gingerbread cookies MUST be baked and decorated the Friday after Thanksgiving. After that, the goal is to fill every cookie tin in the house with cookies, stacking them on the chest in front doorway until they are as tall as me. In our house, dieting is not allowed in December.

I have yet to take on that tradition. For one, I haven’t a single cookie tin to fill. Secondly, while Ed might be happy to eat all those cookies, he doesn’t need to and I certainly don’t need to eat all that wonderful sugar. And this year I don’t have the excuse of eating for two! However, there are a few things that must be baked simply because I love them and this is the time of year to bake them. In the future, I’m sure we’ll have our own slew of cookies. Meanwhile, Ed loves it, I try to limit myself and most of them I give away.

This year, Emry helped. Mostly she sat in her high chair eating Cheerios or waving her own wooden spoon around. But she did help with the gingerbread cookies:

First we learned how to press down on a cookie cutter.

Now it’s time to decorate!

Mmh…what should I do with this gingerbread man?

I know – eat him!

Yes, gingerbread cookies are one of Emry’s personal favorites – with or without icing. If I let her, she’d eat a whole one herself in one sitting! Instead, she shares with me. That way we can both watch our girly figures!