I spent the entire evening baking cookies yesterday. It made my house smell delicious. I made several dozen oatmeal chocolate chip Craisin cookies. They’re chewy and cinnamony and absolutely perfect, but this batch isn’t for me. These are sharing cookies. I made enough to give away to the family this weekend, when we all get together for Cookie Day.

C is for coooookie

Cookie day is an annual tradition here with my Maryland family. December comes, and it’s so easy to get swept up in a Christmas panic. We all take a Saturday off, away from the crowds at the mall, and spend an afternoon at my in-laws’. The guys put up and decorate the tree, and the women bake and decorate dozens of Christmas cookies. It’s a comfy, casual day, and I always look forward to it.

We always have to make Hershey’s kiss “peanut blossom” cookies, because there would be a general revolt from the guys if we didn’t. We’ve been alternating between sugar cookies and shortbread cookies, both of which wear holiday sprinkles well. We’ve tried a few other kinds, too, including the oatmeal ones I just got done with tonight. We won’t have time to bake more than two kinds of cookie this weekend, though. Even with someone making the sugar cookie dough in advance. See, Cookie Day got more complicated once my nephew arrived on the scene. A baby (and then a toddler) needs constant supervision, so there was less time and attention available for baking. This year, we’ve got his little sister around, distracting us even more from the tough cookie work. No complaints here; a cute nephew and niece are much more worthy of my attention than sugar cookies! But we all love cookies, and it’s more fun to have a big variety. And, honestly? A few dozen cookies, split between three families, taken home on the first weekend of December? They have no hope of lasting until Christmas. I figured that I’d use up a bit of my spare energy and chocolate chips and bring a couple dozen to Cookie Day. All the cookies, none of the effort (for them, anyway)!

This year, my nephew will be old enough to help us decorate the sugar cookies with sprinkles, which will be so much fun. I know he’s probably just going to dump sprinkles all over everything, but I can’t wait to eat his masterpieces.

Cookie day just keeps getting better.