Christmas Countdown: Christmas Cookies

As a kid, I always helped my mom bake Christmas cookies. We didn't do the decorative kind (though I think I always wanted to be able to frost and sprinkle to my little heart's content); no, I was put to work painting egg yolk around the edge of the jam pocket dough. See, we had two kinds of cookies that always - and only - made their appearance at Christmastime: jam pockets and black forest cookies. Jam pockets are little pastries with raspberry preserves inside, and black forest cookies are cake-like with dark chocolate and black cherries. The black forest cookies are pretty easy but the jam pockets are time-intensive, so I pretty much remember standing on a chair at the counter assembling the little treats.

We never gave the cookies as gifts. If we were going to give edible gifts, we made something else, because those cookies were our cookies. Dad even used to make a big deal about putting our too many jam pockets for Santa, because he wanted them instead. And on Christmas morning, a new plate of cookies (not Santa's...those were gone...) would appear on the coffee table before we even started opening presents. Nothing like cookies for pre-breakfast!

In an uncharacteristic break with tradition, I made a completely different set of Christmas cookies the first year Mitch and I were married. I guess I wanted to try to put my own twist on the ritual, but my coconut macaroons flopped, my mocha cookies were less than spectacular, and everyone thought my orange creamsicle cookies were just a little too weird. So I went back to the tried-and-true, adding M&M cookies to satisfy Mitch's request for chocolate chip.

For the past two years, I've taken an entire day off work to bake with friends. It's such fun! Let's just say it's a good thing I'm making a special trip to the Rec Center at lunchtime!