Some of you may know my affinity for homemade sugar cookies. I grew up baking sugar cookies every year with my Nanny. We always baked Christmas cookies and sometimes Easter joined in the fun as well. There were 3 different Santa Clauses, a toy drum, 2 kinds of candy canes and a multitude of stars, Christmas trees and stockings. There were candles and snowmen, reindeer and holly leaves and even a Christmas kitty. We mixed and rolled and cut out the shapes all morning. There were 5 different cookie sheets and we had the assembly line down. They all cooled on Nanny's kitchen counter atop sheets of news paper.
And then the decorating began...
So many kinds of sprinkles and so many colors of icing! It was truly a magical site for a child's eyes. My all time favorite sprinkle was the little silver balls. I used them on EVERYTHING. Snowmen had silver eyes, bells had silver ringers, trees were covered in silver balls, Rudolph even had a silver nose.
There was only ever one rule: "Don't lick the knife!"
Every year we'd gather around her kitchen table, covered with newspaper, icing, sprinkles and piles of cookies for a decorating marathon. Over the years we had many helpers - my younger brother, my parents, Leanne (the neighbor next door), aunts, uncles and cousins, the Zolbys from across the street (I have never in my life seen 2 little old ladies have so much fun in one afternoon! They talked about it for years to come.). It was always magical and special.
Now many years later, I have resurrected the tradition. It has become my absolute favorite way to celebrate my birthday. Just like before, I have had many helpers - family, friends, colleagues and the children of those I love - including my own child. Just like before the cookies are piled high on a covered table and bowls of icing and jars of every kind of sprinkle imaginable abound! Yes I have my little silver balls to use as bell ringers and snowmen eyes - I'm a little stingy with them now though. They are harder to find than they used to be and at $10 a bottle, I try and make them last! I still use Nanny's cookie cutters and thanks to some wonderful gifts, have added a few more shapes and sizes to the mix too.
Here are some photos from this year's Cookie Party. My brother's wife Ellen was the sugar cookie virgin of the group this year, but already she has added her own stamp on this family tradition. Thanks to Ellen we now have piping! And oh, what wonderful things you can do with piping! Here are some snapshots of this year's party....
I hope some day all of you can join me in this wonderful Outlaw, now Settler holiday tradition. My parties are BYOS (bring your own sprinkles) and remember "Don't lick the knife!"
P.S. Stay tuned for some Mason updates soon!
