Merry Christmas Cookies!

 Sam's second playdate was a success!  Our friends Jess (the mama) and Cayden came over this afternoon.  First order of business: lunch!  The boys had quite a feast- eggplant fries courtesy of Jess- yum!, cheese, chicken, roast acorn squash, and tofu- the mom's had sandwiches!

Sam was in awe of Cayden's ability to walk- he's so close to crawling!

See!  Crawling is so close, yet so far- finally getting that belly off the ground.  Go Sammy, go!

Then they played pass the pacifier (ew, but funny) and tease the doggie!

Next up- tissue paper shredding!  Who knew we had so many fun things to play with at our house?  They were so sweet with each other- Sam definitely needs to hang out with other kiddos more often.  Mama is old news- other babies are so fun to poke and be poked by!

While the boys crawled, cruised, walked, and fell over, Jess and I got busy decorating!  I've mentioned my 1st edition Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book before- I still love it.  It's just so...of the times.  It suggests broiled grapefruit, peanut butter-bacon canapes, and jellied bouillon for appetizers and has a three page spread on table service.

Considering how much I enjoy keeping house, I think I was born in the wrong era.    Though I'm pretty sure my Where the Wild Things Are t-shirt would not have been considered appropriate mommy attire for a playdate...or ever.

 

I followed the recipe for the light dough:

1/3 cup soft shortening (I used unsalted butter)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup honey (I used half honey, half maple syrup)

1 tsp vanilla

2 3/4 cups flour (I used King Arthur White Whole Wheat)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Mix together thoroughly: shortening/butter, sugar, egg, honey, and vanilla.  Sift together and stir in: flour, baking soda, and salt.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes (I baked for 8 minutes and they came out perfect!)

These have a definite honey taste and are super sweet, but isn't that what you want in a iced sugar cookie?  Besides, I think people who say things are "too sweet" are bonkers.  

 

Rather than dealing with homemade frosting, I bought the Betty Crocker cookie icing.  It worked perfectly and was pretty much mess free- love!  The taste isn't half bad either...I love how I'm being so non-committal about the taste- I've eaten like 7 cookies!  They are delicious. 

Must give them all away NOW.   

 

This one is clearly my favorite- that white blob would be a shout out to my hometown!