Just a quick little note - my Christmas Sugar Cookies made it to the finals on Yummly's Holiday Cookie Contest. I am so ecstatic! I would love if you could stop by Yummly and click the 'like' button to vote for my cookies. The prize is a ruby red 7 quart KitchenAid stand mixer, which I have dreamed about for years. Thanks for all your support, you guys rock. This contest closes Dec 20, 2011 5:00 pm EST. This Christmas, I plan on making enough Christmas cookies to fill the freezer. Not the tiny freezer that sits perched on top of the fridge and is meant solely for the purpose of making and storing ice. The one that's hidden in the garage, because it's too darn ugly to be seen inside. The freezer that you never want to look inside, because you're afraid what you might find. One day, when I live somewhere big enough to hold one of those ginormous freezers, I will fill it with ice cream and cookies and people will be super excited to open the door. With all this cookie business around here, I will most likely be handing you a tin of cookies this season, unless you are doing something weird like yelling at your puppy or throwing trash on the ground. Then I will have to think twice.

Speaking of weirdos, in the wee hours of the night, Melissa's car got broken into. She probably wouldn't have known it happened, except that everyone's car in a 10 mile radius got broken into, including her neighbor, who kindly informed her early this morning. A very tall police officer carrying a big shiny gun, came to our house to take a report. Attached to the side of his belt was a radio that annoyingly spat out bits of police blabber, while he patiently waited for little M to get out of the shower. I sat at my computer pretending like I was doing something important, but really I was just reading gossip. The police officer told little M that he suspected the crime was committed by a local gang from the neighboring village. It's probably unlikely that she will get back her purse and cell phone, and it's pretty unlikely that I will be offering cookies to any local street gangs. Just saying.

In other news, I attended my first Christmas party of the season. Little M's husband, Big J, convinced one of his coworkers to take me. Budgets have been cut and there was a mandatory one guest per employee policy. Big J's co-worker, let's call him crazy T, wore a black shirt unbuttoned halfway, and big shiny belt buckle, holding up a skinny pair of black jeans. He liked to talk about transport trucks, car engines, and Arizona. His creep factor was 10 and I ran as soon as I had the chance, shortly after he switched my chocolate cheesecake for his vanilla. I wish that Mr. H would have been sitting next to me because he would never have done such a thing.

A couple of weeks ago I made my grandmothers raisin cookies, and it got me thinking about my childhood, and how there was nothing I loved more than holiday cookies. My grandmother used to do most of the baking, and it's about time that I continued that tradition. I've spent the past couple of days tweaking this sugar cookie recipe by Martha Stewart. I've finally come up with a satisfyingly tasty cookie, that is slightly crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. This cookie will help you forget about car robbing bandits, big belt wearing rednecks, and most importantly, how much you miss your Mr. Man.

CHRISTMAS SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE

recipe makes 30 cookies

recipe adapted from

Martha Stewart

Cookie Ingredients

1 1/2 stick (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup white granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

Icing Ingredients

1 1/2 cups confectioner sugar

3 - 4 tbsp milk

gel food coloring

sprinkles for decorating

Directions

1. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (approximately 5 minutes).

2. Add the vanilla, then the eggs one by one, and mix until combined.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly add it to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix until combined.

4. Break the dough into two pieces and flatten into disks. Wrap in Saran wrap and place in the freezer for 20 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

6. Remove one piece of dough from the fridge and roll it out 1/4 inch thick.  If the dough is sticking to the counter, lightly dust with flour or roll between two pieces of parchment paper dusted with flour.

7. Cut out the cookie shapes and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 6 - 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

8. Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack before icing. To make the icing whisk the icing sugar with milk until smooth, and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add food coloring to the icing if desired. I like to use a gel, because it gives it a more intense color.