The True Meaning of Cookie Day

[mrissa]

Yesterday was Cookie Day, and we made eight kinds of cookie and candy. Last year we made twelve, but--well, I was going to say that the point of Cookie Day is not excess, but then you all would laugh at me. No, it's that the point of Cookie Day is not pointless excess or unhappy excess. We made a great many lovely things, and when we were tired and ready to be done, we stopped rather than treating last year as a benchmark to always be surpassed.

Anyway. I still need to make the lussekatter and the apple hazelnut bread, but the lussekatter are some thing I need to for Santa Lucia Day itself. They are their own ritual. I may decide to make another kind or two of cookies, or I may not. We did all the things besides the lussekatter that I absolutely have to have this year, and we had a good time, and that is the true meaning of Cookie Day.

Final list for yesterday: pepparkakor, strawberry shortbreads, peanut butter kisses, pretzel hugs, turtles, sea salt caramels, rum balls for matastas, peanut butter fudge for Mike. And I had already done the brun brods. I can think of other things I might choose to do, but I also might not.

Comments

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

Yes, but you have the basics. After that. it's just what might get added, and what might not (clearly lussekatter are just things that happen around the same time as Christmas cookies, which might confuse people who didn't think about them carefully). Once you have the basics, you can get on with the rest of it in a proper seasonal spirit.

Also, in my experience, while it's possible to have an awful lot of cookies this time of year, there is no such thing as too many of them, or too many different kinds, because there is always something you can do with them, since the point is not to have all those cookies to eat by yourself--that would be excessive.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yes, we give to friends and neighbors, so "too many" is right out.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

Also, what are 'pretzel hugs.'

I forgot to mention I'm making both traditional anise biscotti and lavendar biscotti for gifts this year.

Happy Cookie Day!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Pretzel hugs are the easiest, easiest thing.

Heat your oven to 250 F. Put some parchment on a cookie sheet. Unwrap a bag of Hershey's Hugs and arrange them point-up on the cookie sheet. Put a ring pretzel over each one. Stick the cookie sheet in the oven for 3 minutes. When you pull it out, make sure each pretzel ring is settled around the bottom of the Hug and press an M&M into the top of each one, pushing the point down. You have to work fairly quickly so that the chocolate is still melty, but it's very doable. It's the sort of task you can give to someone who is not much experienced with baking if you have a person like that at your Cookie Day, although we did not.

I haven't made biscotti. It's one of the few types of baked good I just haven't gotten around to doing. I like them, too, I just never get around to it.

[columbina.livejournal.com]

I think I need a Cookie Day.

You are cute.

[thorintatge.livejournal.com]

And impressive, of course, but that's not the important thing right now.

Re: You are cute.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Well, it has been gaaldine's and my life's work.