Thursday Thirteen - 35 - 13 Things About Our Christmas Cookie Tradition

1 - Decorating cookies has been a huge part of my family's Christmas tradition, since I was a kid. It all starts with this well-used recipe.










2 - The recipe comes from this very cookbook, which my mom has used since she was a new bride.






3 - Sometimes the ginger cookies end up as drop cookies, but this year my mom decided to go for two types of Christmas cookies. I have to say - as a fan of gingerbread, this recipe is unsurpassed.











4 - Mom's rolling pin has smoothed out many, many lumps of dough in its day. And it's more than up to the job.



5 - These are the little packets of cookie dough, chilling for a few hours before they can be baked.



6 - 40-year-old cookie cutters do their magic.



7 - Sugar cookie angels bake in the warmth of Mom's oven.



8 - The sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies cool off, waiting for the big event. When I was a kid, my mom started inviting my best friend and my cousins over to decorate them during Christmas vacation from school. She always made enormous amounts of cookies, because the invited kids could take home whatever they decorated.



9 - We kept on holding the Cookie Decorating Party even when we grew up. This is my best friend Connie collecting her goodies from the 1983 event. She was at university then, studying office management. I was taking my Early Childhood Education at St. Joe's in Halifax.






10 - Not sure exactly which year this is, but it's mid-80's. These are my high school choir friends, several years into university. Home for Christmas and attending the Phillips Cookie Decorating Party. L to R: Shelley, myself, Andrew, Philip, Maureen and Mark


11 - Fast-forward a decade and a half - here you have my sister Michelle ready to bake up the cookies at my cousin's place, when we were all gathered for Christmas.


12 - This cookie party was right here in my mom's kitchen in 2004. L to R: my best friend Connie, my mom and my husband.



13 - Here's a few cookies from this year. Hope you all have a chance to relax, put up your feet for a minute and have a cookie or two, a cup of tea or a glass of milk. Don't worry about the crumbs!

Thursday Thirteen - 21 - Thirteen Favorite Cookies

I've been missing Ontario lately, which made me think of the Empire cookies I used to love when I was there. They seemed to only be available in the summer, and they weren't easy to find. The first time I tried them was on a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Such a delectable discovery. For today's Thursday Thirteen, here are some of my favorite cookies.













1 - Empire Cookies The best thing about them is the tart raspberry filling contrasting with the sweet icing.













2 - Cowboy Cookies My old boyfriend's mom used to load these up with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, raisins, chopped walnuts and coconut. Mmm! President's Choice in Canada has an All-in-One cookie that comes fairly close.







3 - Hermit Cookies I buy the Superstore Bakery hermit cookies a lot. Yummy! The spicy/raisin combo is the draw with hermit cookies.





4 - Traditional Scottish Shortbread Cookies For some reason I always prefer shortbread when it's in petticoats instead of the thicker fingers. But I'll never say no to shortbread, no matter what shape it is.










5 - No-Bake Coconut Macaroons
In junior high we made these in Home Ec class, and I was instantly smitten. Chocolate and coconut are two things I just can't resist.






6 - Christmas Sugar Cookies My mom has always made sugar cookies at Christmas, and when we were kids she turned decorating them into a party. She used to make tons so that whoever came to the party could take home their icing masterpieces. We still try to do our Cookie Decorating Party if we can.








7 - Jam-Filled Cookies My best friend's mom used to make these. I always thought they were terribly exotic!














8 - Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies When it comes to chocolate chip, I want the chunkiest chocolate that a cookie can stand.






9 - Belgian Cookies in Tins I love to collect tins, especially antique ones, so I have a weakness for the European butter cookies that come in tins. Especially the ones dipped in chocolate.








10 - Gingersnaps

When money was extreeemly tight one Christmas while I was at film school, I stayed up late on Dec. 23rd baking gingersnaps and peanut butter cookies for my husband and my sister so I'd have something to put in their stockings.






11 - Peanut Butter Cookies Gram used to bake these a lot when my husband and I lived upstairs at her place in Yarmouth. She was still in her 80's and baked and cooked all day while I was at work at A Buck or Two. I never said no to the peanut butter cookies!








12 - Oatmeal Raisin Cookies I love oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, as well. Even plain old oatmeal cookies will do in a pinch. I love the chewiness of oatmeal cookies.










13 - Peek Freans Fruit Cremes

Often with potato chips or peanuts, eating one leads to another and then another. Peek Frean Fruit Cremes are that way for me. If I eat one, I eat half a bag!

Ok, now I'm hungry for cookies...