For the Sake of Neighbors, I Bake
I’m not usually the posting-recipes-kind-of-blogger, BUT I did want to post a tradition of ours that actually comes with every holiday…making sugar cookies. Every single time I make cookies, I can count on Drew to be my cooking helper….though I think it is just so he can eat as much cookie dough as possible!! And this year, for his birthday party, we made pumpkin cookies with this recipe - it is the best one I have found by far. Plus, it makes up a ton of dough so no second batches! Though I do love to cook, I don’t bake well. There’s a difference? you ask. Oh yes, Virginia, there most certainly is! Cooking does not have to be very exact - a little of this, a little of that, cook it til it’s done, the end. Baking, on the other hand, is exact - exact measuring, exact baking time, exact ingredients. Do not veer off the recipe or gross outcomes occur. Trust me.
You can also trust my brilliant assistant, Drew. Drew is a cookie (dough) expert. And he will now present you with the finer skills of cookie-baking. He even has his own rolling pin…
He’s got mad-cookie-cutting-skills as well…
I found a big box of cookie cutters this year for like $7. Has lots of different shapes including this candy cane cutter presented, once again, by my darling assistant…
For my birthday this year, my sis-in-law got me these incredible stacking cooling racks. Previously, I had no cooling racks. I think it greatly enhanced the baking process this year…
Then I made my friend Shannon’s icing recipe. Which is just:
a box of powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 egg white
2-3 Tbsp. water (but I think I used more than that)
food coloring
Icing cookies is also an exact skill that is tedious and I don’t have the patience for…but for the sake of neighbors, I prevailed. And Viola!
Now, don’t you wish you were my neighbor! 
Happy Baking!
