Blog #1 Revised

My Christmas Joy

What is the first thing you think of when it comes to Christmas? Yes, of course, it would be the gifts. But wait a minute! You cannot forget about eating Christmas cookies every winter! In my family, we love to eat Christmas cookies. Baking with my mother, sister, and friends excites me every winter break. Not only do we get to enjoy the scent of the soothing, melted chocolate smelling cookies as they bake in the oven, but we get to spend quality time with one another.

As soon as December 1st comes around the corner, the baking begins! We gather all of the ingredients and tools needed to whip out the first batch of cookies. Should we make sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, or oatmeal cookies first? That tends to always be the hardest decision to make as we sit around in the kitchen enjoying each other’s company. However, we always start off with my choice of oatmeal cookies and finish baking the rest later. Each of us takes turns and completes the set of directions given for each type of cookie. Once all the ingredients are mixed together, with the butter and jagged oats piled up thick inside the bowl, the fun begins. Of course, after we all wash our cookie rolling hands, we get to work. We scoop our spoons in the dough and begin rolling the gooey, soft, squashy, oat-filled batter. After we whirl the dough into balls, we place them onto the empty tray. Once we cannot roll anymore we lick the bowls until they are spotless and rub the thick, coarse cookie dough all over each other’s faces. After we pose for the camera a few times with our cookie painted faces, we get ready for the worst part of the cookie making process…resisting the temptation to pull the cookies out of the oven before they are finished baking. As you stand around the oven waiting for the sugary treats, the sweet scent bombards your nose and the warmth from the oven creeps up your body just like when you walk into a bakery filled with freshly-baked desserts. The excitement when the cookies gear up to come out of the oven is indescribable.

Once the timer on the oven dings the first time and the cookies start to form a golden color, our mouths begin to quickly water. The timer sounds that last three second ding and the race to get those scrumptious treats to the counter for cooling is not fast enough! Puffs of cookie clouds fill the open air in the kitchen as we dream of that first warm chocolate chip from the cookie slowly drifting down our throats and making its way into our stomachs.

Once the cookies scream out to be eaten, our entire family and friends exemplify true exhilaration. We all nibble on the hot cookies, trying not to burn our tongues with the melted chocolate that eventually diffuses onto our fingers. The cooled off, soft cookies relax in the containers until Christmas Eve. Ever since my sister and I were little, we could not wait to feed Santa Claus with our delicious cookies and Egg Nog so he would bless us with wonderful gifts. (Caution: Parents do not let your kids read this part of the blog). As we all know now that we are older, Santa Claus is not real, but back then my sister and I filled the room with excitement when we noticed that he took a bite out of the cookies we baked just for him! Santa Claus never failed to write us notes with his messy handwriting saying how proud he was of us and left us with his crumbs proving that our cookies flattered his plump stomach!

I thought that you may want to enjoy this cookie experience too. Make sure you bake the cookies with people you love and make it as fun as possible! You too, can make this a lifetime experience with your children, friends, and family that they will never forget!

Quakers Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
¾ cup of softened vegetable shortening
1 cup of firmly packed Imperial brown sugar
½ cup of imperial granulated sugar
1 egg thrown in to get the cookie dough-rolling party started and blended
¼ cup of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 cups of uncooked Quaker oatmeal
1 cup of celebration all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of soda
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat together shortening, imperial sugars, egg, water, and vanilla
3. Mix until its creamy
4. Combine and add the remaining dry ingredients
5. Blend well
6. Get dirty and roll dough with your hands into balls
7. Place balls onto cookie tray
8. Spend 13-15 minutes with your family yearning for the cookies as they bake
9. Dive in for your first hot, melted cookie

As I think about my childhood days, I can look back and see the effect of our “baking cookies” experience on my life. Between getting down and dirty and rushing to the oven to see who can eat the first cookie, my family embraces each other with love and laughter every winter. It seems as if each of our personalities is an ingredient blended together to make a warm, irresistible life of a cookie. No matter how much stress any of us endures throughout our long days, dealing with strict bosses/teachers or even coping with being lonely from being away from our homes, we can always relax our minds and sigh a huge breath of relief when we gather around in our kitchen to bake cookies for the Christmas holiday. You get the same soothing feeling that you get when you are wrapped up in a cozy blanket near a fireplace with your family reminiscing on memorable times. We count the months before the next Christmas season arrives so we can indulge in the amiable, enjoyable cookie experience all over again!


Source for recipe: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1910,158181-240192,00.html