Baking Cookies

I love to bake all sorts of goodies. My mother taught me how to bake before I have memories. I do remember pinching off pieces of the chocolate chip cookie dough and stealing it while she would mix the cookie dough. I remember her saying so many times, in a I'm pretending to be mad at you but I don't really care way "ooooh, you little Thief!". Mom had a day for baking every week. It was usually Tuesday. "Tuesday is baking day", she would say. Maybe she still does bake on Tuesdays. I haven't been home enough lately to know for sure. Mom usually started the baking day by mixing at least one batch of bread. Then for many years she made peanut butter cookies. Life was good when you could watch Mr. Dressup and go out to the kitchen for soft-and-warm-from-the-oven peanut butter cookies!

As my siblings and I got older, Mom started trying new cookies. I think we actually got bored with Peanut butter cookies ALL the time. One day she made chocolate chip cookies and since then, she never went back. They were by far, our favorite! Never a day went by when there weren't any chocolate chip cookies in her house. To this day, they are still my favorite. I use the recipe that Mom always used - the one off the Jumbo Chipits bag.

Other than Chocolate Chip Cookies, I really only bake cookies for holidays. The biggest holiday cookie making time is Christmas, of course! But I also make special Hallowe'en, Easter, and Valentine's Day cookies.

The most interesting Christmas cookies I make are called "Candy Cane Cookies." They are made of a plain vanilla cookie dough you divide in half when you start shaping the cookies. You color one half red and leave the other half white. You take a piece of each color and roll it into a three inch long worm and then twist these together and bend it to make a candy cane shape.

Some other cookies I make especially for Christmas include sugar cookies, Christmas shape cookies, and gingerbread men and women. I don't claim to have any perfected recipes yet, but I did always like "Cookie Monster's Cookie Dough" for the rolled out cookies. I found that in my Sesame Street Fun book when I was five.

I must admit, the only thing that makes my Hallowe'en, Easter and Valentine's Day cookies special is the shapes I make them and the way I decorate them. When I get some pictures, I'll be sure to show you what I mean!