What’s Christmas without some treats around the house?
It started with the sugar cookies. We all gathered to roll out the dough and start cutting out shapes.
Never a family to do things in a traditional way, we had some pretty interesting cookies. In addition to the usual stars and angels and bells, we had cookies shaped like squirrels, sheep, dinosaurs, shamrocks, and even some custom ones like Zack’s “duckfish” (don’t ask).
Ollie was really good about quality control, frequently sampling the dough to ensure it was of the finest grade.
We popped them in the oven, and then went to work on the frosting. Normally I’ll mix up some frosting, throw food coloring into it to make four or five colors, and then take a butter knife to spread it liberally on the cookies. Not so this year. Kyra brought her cake-decorating tips, and the crew went to work.
Even Ollie tried his hand at it.
Kaitlyn made what I can only describe as the prettiest Christmas sugar cookie I’ve ever seen. It was an absolute masterpiece of a wreath. Look at her concentration!
Eventually Ollie tired of squeezing frosting through a bag, and Grandma came to the rescue with some fun.
In the end, we had boxes full of amazing cookies. Some seemed too pretty to eat… although in the end they were definitely eaten.
The Christmas cookies were epic, but Kyra and I had agreed weeks before that we were going to make bonbons. It’s been years since we’ve had them, and they’re a real treat. She, Zack, and I had a grand time making them. We had a bit of extra chocolate dip at the end, so we experimented a bit with chocolate-covered Cheetos and cashews and Starburst. They were… underwhelming.
With sugar cookies and bonbons and chips and crackers and Cheetos all week, we had no shortage of treats. I literally gained seven pounds during the kids’ visit. That’s proper Christmas eating!