Cookie Monsters

My Wife Making Cookies Last Night

Well, now that the house is decorated (although with my wife – it’s never really finished) it was time to move on the arguably the most important pre-Christmas activity.  I am speaking, of course, about the baking of Christmas cookies.  My wife spent most of yesterday with her first batch.  I provided some semi-able assistance (mainly consisting of not drooling too much).  While we were making the cookies my wife commented that we owe this Christmas tradition to my mother and we should thank her. 
 

My mother and my wife had a fairly contentious relationship while my mother was still alive.  Looking back it strikes me as a real missed opportunity because they really do share a lot of interests.  I think in another life they would have been good friends.  One of my mother’s enduring legacies is her Christmas cookies which are justifiably world famous.  Cookie baking in Panama in almost unheard of – I think it has something to do with the 90 degree heat so this is something my wife learned almost entirely from my mother.

Anyone who has eaten some of these Christmas cookies will attest to their mysterious ability to capture your soul.  My son reported he has already baked up some with the M.E.G.  In the funniest turn, my wife’s 19 year old nephew in Panama has demanded she connect with him via Skype when she makes Peanutbutter Blossoms (the height of the cookie hierarchy) so he can acquire the art.  This is a guy who needs directions to the kitchen and apparently is willing to immerse himself in the 90 degree heat and humidity of a Panamanian kitchen based on that irresistible pull of Christmas cookies.  I did say mysterious, didn’t I?

 

Last night the project was sugar cookies.  I’ve been campaigning for years to get away from the thin, crunchy versions and transition to the thick, chewy kind.  I’ve used subtle psychological warfare such as plying my wife with samples of the soft cookies from Stop and Shop.  I was justifiably declared victory last night when she admitted she wanted the thick kind as well.

 

I took up station directly beside her to offer support, to ensure the proper amount of sugar was applied, and to move the cookies to and from the oven.  Those of you who will accuse me of doing this on the off chance I might be offered a sample or three of a warm thick sugar cookie would be absolutely correct.  Buddy did not want to be excluded and somehow low crawled into position unseen directly below us.

 

We ended up having a lot of fun, at least until the point my wife put the completed batch into the freezer to preserve them for Christmas and protect them from me. 

  

On a most profound level – THANKS MOM!!!!

Buddy Sneakily Trying to Horn in on my Scavenging Opportunities

Last Night's Bounty - Note the Expert Sugar Positioning