Sweet Memories

One of my earliest memories, one I've always held dear, is of my Grandma ... baking cookies for us.  I remember that she'd spend hours baking with us ... and then 'sell' her cookies to us.  We'd spend our money buying those cookies ... oh, so sweet.  She died when we were very little ... and when my mother went through her things, we discovered that every penny we had spent buying her cookies was put into savings accounts for each of us.  She was a special lady!

Christmas brings out the baker in me ... so when it's cold outside, and the snow flies, I think about baking ... and I think about her.  This year, I made one of her favorite treats ... good old fashioned Chinese Chews!

Chinese Chews - Figgy Goodness

 I had some fun arranging the cookies infront of our tree ... that's right, this year we put up our tree!  I'll post some pictures of the tree and all my favorite ornaments ... most of them hand-made.  But today is all about baking for Christmas.

My husband's favorite cookies are Texas Rangers ... just crammed full of oats, chocolate chips and rice krispys ... so I made up a batch ... I have not made them in a few years!

Texas Rangers and Hot Cocoa ... what a treat!

I love chocolate ... and I found a great cookie receipe on Veronica's Cornucopia for peppermint chocolate cookies ... I used mint chocolate, bittersweet, semisweet and milk chocolates ... and dark chocolate cocoa ... they are ooooh so good!  I love the little green flecks of mint peeking out from that dark chocolate cookie!

Peppermint Chocolate Cookies

And let's face it, peanut butter cookies are a classic!  I just had to bake up a batch.  I used all natural peanut butter and salted dry roasted peanuts ... they pack a great big peanutty punch ..... yum!



Giant Peanut Butter Cookies

And finally, again from Veronica's Cornucopia, these lemony-melt-in-your-mouth, pretty and bright lemon cookies ... just as advertised, they're like sunshine on a cold wintery day!

Lemon Krinkles

Actually, I did make up a few more batches ... both Steve and I took some to work, where they were set upon with frenzy ... and I've given a selection to Jean and Joe.  Still, I've got several dozens in my freezer!

Cookies for Christmas ... and sweet memories with Grandma ... I love this time of year (except for the cold, and the snow ... and the winter part)