Christmas In The Kitchen

What's Christmas without cookies?  

My kids look forward to this almost as much as the annual Gingerbread house.  Although, I must admit Jack is slowly growing out of this little tradition of ours {sniff sniff}.  Just like the pumpkin carving earlier this year, he showed up for the fun part.  He left all the prep work to me and Maggie...again.  Good thing I have Lucy waiting in the wings to help Mags and me out.

Maggie, however, has not out grown one minuet step of the process.  She is there from beginning to end and I love it.  The messier the better {with lots of hand wiping per her request}.  And all along she asks, "what's next?" followed by, "can I do that?". 

Maggie rolled the dough over and over and over again.  She certainly makes more work for me, but then again, I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for her sweet interest.  However, she used the cookie cutters like a champ.  We made gingerbread men {and girls, as Maggie likes to name some of them}, Christmas trees, stars, and stockings.

Just as the first batch came out of the oven, Jack came out of hiding.  Who can resist sugary icing and sprinkles galore.  Maggie even added a few M&Ms {yum!, good idea little one}

We were blessed with the company of GG.  Nothing like reminiscing of my days in her kitchen. I have endless memories of making delicious messes around Christmas time with this wonderful lady.  So blessed that my kids get to do the same.  Anyone who knows my Grandma knows exactly what I mean....I don't what was sweeter GG or the cookies...seriously.

And no Christmas in the kitchen is complete without a "sugar sneak".  My kiddos are infamous for this.  We had a house full of family this day, and after they watched Jack and Maggie take their signature licks, the cookies instantly became all ours.

Like I explained to everyone before we began our cookie baking...it's the journey not the destination...so don't get too excited.