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Cooking up some holiday memories in the kitchen

by Leticia -- Being Savvy Washington DC

I come from a family that loves to cook.  Holidays are an especially memorable time because of the favorite dishes that I've come to associate with each occasion and Christmas is all about cookies.  

Each year we made many different kinds of Christmas cookies that filled the house with the warmsmell of baking. Snickerdoodles rolled in red and green sugar, white powdered Russian tea cakes, brown sugar thins cut into shapes of stars, trees, and bells, striped candy cane cookies, gingerbread menand women, biscotti, and others were packed on plates wrapped with cellophane and curling ribbon and taken to friends, family, and neighbors.

Baking cookies is a tradition that I have continued with my own children.  We'll pull out Betty Crocker's Cooky Book, the reprinted version of the 1969 version I always used with my mom, which is my cookie cookbook bible.  Together we'll sit down and flip through the cookbook.  While my children lick their lips in selecting the cookies we will share with others this year, the retro pictures and vintage layout will always remind me of my childhood.

If you aren't the baking type but love the thought of holiday cookies and baking with your children, here are 3 ways you can still enjoy homemade goodness without all the work.  

1.  Host a cookie exchange.  Invite some friends to bake their favorite kinds of cookies.  Have them makea dozen for each cookie exchange participant and print a copy of the recipe for each person.  Make some hot cocoa, trade cookies, and go home with your friends' favorites. 

2.  Call your local bakery.  If you love the idea of decorating gingerbread men or sugar cookies, call your local bakery to ask them to set aside undecorated versions of the ones they sell in their cases. Put on some holiday music and break out the icing, sprinkles, and colored sugar for a cookie decorating fest.

3.  Store bought cookie dough.  Fill the house with the smell of freshly baked cookies isn't so hard even if you are short on time.  Take a trip to your local store to pick up your friendsNestle and Pillsbury, some decorating supplies, and before too long, you can step back and marvel at your masterpieces that you can call your own.  Don't worry, I won't tell!

Happy holidays and happy baking!