christmas baking, part 2

We spent a wonderful day Saturday making butter cookies with my mom.  The recipe is from my great-grandmother, probably from Germany.  It is like a sugar cookie, but very very thin, and not too sweet.  As my mom says, "Any cookie dough that has a whole pound of butter in it had better be called a 'butter cookie'!"

The kids enjoyed the decorating and the cutting out, of trees and snowmen, stars and holly leaves, dogs, and even turtles (for my dad, who loves turtles!).  And the sprinkling of the sugars is the best part, and one that has to be learned, for each shape has its own traditional sprinkles, not too much, just a little pinch...and beware if you tamper with the color or how many sprinkles to use!

For me, the best part was family...being there with my mom, and my kids, and the memory of my grandmother, Mom-mom, and making cookies in her kitchen.  The smell of cookies almost done in the oven.  And that first taste!