Christmas Cookies

Who doesn't like Christmas cookies?  They are the quintessential food of the Christmas season. Everyone has at least one favorite to bake or just to eat (if only someone would make them for you). Baking cookies is a tradition shared with family, friends and even strangers who are invited in out of the cold to enjoy some seasonal joy. We make the cookies not only to eat but use them as ornaments on trees, give as gifts, use as bribes (think Santa).  Christmas cookies are traditions passed down from generation to generation, bringing back many memories.  I remember the first time I made Scotch Shortbread.  My grandfather had given me the recipe from his mother who hailed form Kilmarnick, Scotland.  It's an easy recipe, four cups flour to one pound butter to one cup sugar, all mixed together, baked at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  My grandfather instructed me as I prepared the dough, proceeded to teach me how to knead the dough and put into the traditional petit rounds.  I treasured the time spent with him, learning something from my Scots great-grandmother.  Since that time, I've made it every year at Christmas, usually just after Thanksgiving. Once it's made, I feel the Christmas season has started and I have something to munch on while trimming the tree, and watching Christmas specials on T.V. Another cookie favorite from the past is Spritz. This was my father favorite cookie and I usually was the one to make them.  They are very labor intensive and the dough has to be the right temperature in order for the cookie press to mold them.  I had not made the cookies in sixteen years (since my dad died).  This year, my sister wanted to make them again and asked for my assistance. Well, it was an interesting cookie making session. The dough just would not cooperate going through the press. Finally, we both just laughed and started to mold the cookies by hand into flattened balls.  The taste is the same, just not the shape.  At the end of the session, we decided this was one tradition that will no longer be performed by the two of us.  The younger generation can take a try at it from now on. And that is OK. There are still several other traditional cookies that I will make which again bring back memories of years past. It's the memories which are the important part of the process.  If you are tempted to go out to buy cookies, I would encourage you to try and make a memory instead by baking some. Make a memory with your children, grandchildren, niece, nephew, friends...someone who you would love to share and make connections with at a joyous time of year. You never know "how the cookie will crumble". It just might make someone very happy.

At the Bird Feeder

Whoever said "eating like a bird" means eating a very small amount doesn't know anything about birds!  They are the biggest food hogs I've ever seen.  I have a bird feeder just outside my family room sliding door.  It's been a great joy just to watch them and their antics.  At certain times of the day, different groups of birds come in to gorge themselves of what I have put out for them (safflower seed). Originally, I just wanted to attract cardinals and finches. Well, I've got a variety of species coming in for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. The biggest bullies of the bird feed are the mourning doves. They just push everyone else out and off, shake up the feeder to get the seed on the ground and just sit on top to scare everyone else away. Then there are the purple finches...very tenacious little birds.  They will cling to the side of the feeder to get out their favorite seed which is a black thin seed.  Often one or two will "do battle" with the doves and get the doves off the feeder so others can eat.  Chickadees and nuthatches flutter in briefly, grab some seed and fly out to side on the branches of the trees, making a fuss at everyone else who comes to eat.  The ones I really want to enjoy are the cardinals.  They are so very cautious and shy.  The males in their bright red coats come in first to make sure it's safe. Once they see everything is fine, they call to their mates to come and dine. I love watching the males standing guard until their mates have finished. Finally, the squirrels...they are greedy, the biggest bullies and the most ingenious when it comes to food, especially in the winter.  I've watched one little guy figure out how to "fly" from one of the branches of the tree to the top of the feeder to shake out seed.  This was after many attempts to climb the pole which I greased so the squirrels couldn't get up to scatter seed. Watching him jump, slide down the pole and look puzzled has given many moments of enjoyment. But I've resigned myself to feed the greedy squirrels in order to enjoy the others. I also have two nesting red-tail hawks in the barn behind the house.  They have circled and dive bombed several times to get at the smaller birds which frightens everyone away for awhile. I love watching the hawks fly...so strong and proud. Having a bird feeder can give you many hours of enjoyment. It makes me slow down, observe what is going on around me and gives me a great deal of peace.  It stops me from worrying so much about life in general, not fearing what will happen next but to stay in the moment. I can't change what has happened nor can I change what will happen in the future for the most part. The Lord takes care of the birds of the field, He will take care of me because I am His child and He loves me...just as He and I love the birds.

First Snow

I love snow. How it falls, the crunch underfoot, the silence that surrounds you in the middle of a snowstorm. I realize I'm probably in the minority in regards to this type of percipitation. Many complain about the efforts it takes to get rid of it, pushing off the roads, driving in it. Also there are some places on earth who receive more than their fair share of the white fluffy stuff (think Buffalo, NY). But snow has some wonderful qualities. First, it blankets the ugliness of the landscape and turns it into a wonderland, clean, pure. It makes the trees, bushes, landscape take on a dreamy quality and softens the edges of hardscapes. When you look at the trees with snow upon their branches, you see how structurally beautiful they are in form. The snow almost acts as vanilla icing on cookie trees. The birds' colors stand out more, especially the cardinals. I love to watch them at the bird feeder when the snow is coming down. I guess I like the snow falling the most. When you walk outside, all sound is muffled. I feel and hear the crunch of the snow underfoot which makes me feel very connected to where I walking. Memories of sledding down hills in New England as a child come back as I walk along the sidewalk. Memories which include coming home to a warm house with hot cocoa waiting after taking off wet, drippy mittens. And what about snowmen? I tried this morning to make a snowball grow into the first ball of the snowman but this snow is not the right consistency. Oh well, I know there will be a snowman snow coming sometime this winter.  This is the first snow of the season, the Christmas season which makes it a very special one. I've been waiting a long time to have snow again after living in the deep South. I'm enjoying it and no one who is a "bah humbug" about snow is going to stop my enjoyment. I just hope I feel the same way in March when we get the Spring snows. We'll see.