Cookies

 

In which I use the new rolling pins that Dave's parents gave me for Christmas to make these charming cookies for the NECC Education Department holiday gathering tomrorow. xo 

Christmas Cookies!

 

Nothing like some virtual youth group Christmas cookie decorating to end a lovely Sunday! xo

Holiday Treat Making

Sugar cookies, thumbprint cookies and cinnamon rolls. Some made for keeping but most made for giving (to friends and family, neighbors and teachers)! xo

Holiday Treats For Friends

Yesterday was all about making treats for friends and neighbors. 

The girls spent the morning cutting out sugar cookies. Many, many sugar cookies. 

This gnome cookie cutter is my absolute favorite. 

 After quiet time it was all about cookie decorating. 

Emma decided that she wanted to decorate her gnome cookie to look just like our Tomte the Gnome.

 She did a great job!
Don't you just love his boots?!

 "Mama! Look! I made Saint Lucia!" -Emma

 Grace's reindeer. 

 While the girls were decorating cookies I got to work on the cinnamon rolls. We thought it would be fun to bring a tray of cinnamon rolls to our friends, the librarians and the staff at our amazing pediatrician's office. This recipe makes so many rolls that they are perfect for holiday treat giving!

While yesterday was all about making treats today was all about delivering them! This morning we made a batch of maple cream cheese frosting (because, really, the only thing that could make these rolls any more incredible is maple cream cheese frosting), packaged them up and headed out to bring some holiday cheer to all who'd be receiving them. A bit of elving (and visiting with friends) was the  perfect way to mark the "one week until Christmas" day that is today. xo

Our Morning

Our morning was spent baking and decorating. Before the girls were up I came downstairs and got to work cutting and baking cookies. The quiet of the house and the chance to get a head start on the cookies was the perfect way to begin the day. I had about thirty minutes before I was joined by Emma and then another thirty minutes before Grace joined in too. It's always so lovely to have time to myself and then time with each of my sweet girls, but I really do love it best when we three are together! The girls got really into the decorating. I had mixed up some icing (from the Flour cookbook) and as I was wishing we had more powdered sugar I remember I had all the gels from Emma's rainbow birthday cake this past February. I dug them out from their hiding spot and the girls didn't miss a beat. They each chose gnome cookies to decorate and before I knew it we had two sweet rainbow gnomes completed! And seriously, aren't those gnome cookies adorable?! I think it's my new favorite cookie cutter! Once we had plenty of cookies done we got out all the treats we made last night and began boxing them up to bring to our beloved pediatrician and her team, the librarians and some friends! So, while we spent our morning decorating cookies we spent the afternoon delivering them!