The Beginning of Christmas Cookies

I'm making a half-hearted attempt at doing Christmas cookies with my kids. Like everything, making cookies is a big effort for me as it requires standing in the kitchen for a long time and mixing - both of which are hard for me right now (no, I'm not lazy... these are just a few of many Fibromyalgia symptoms that I am currently dealing with). But they aren't children forever and you can't pass up too many opportunities for traditions.

I grew up making hundreds of Christmas cookies every year. We had enough to give plates full to our neighbors. I am not this ambitious. I am hoping to merely make a few cookies with the kids so that they can share in the fun of making them. I'd say we will give them away - but since my daughter is sick... I'm guessing these are a present that would keep on giving.

I printed up a Gingerbread cookie recipe from the Internet - I used this one because it didn't require molasses. With the current weather outside I have no intention of leaving the house so I needed one with ingredients I had on hand.

Another thing about me is that I'm horrible at following a recipe. I have no problem trying to substitute an ingredient if I need to and I'll guesstimate if I can't find a measuring cup. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Today, I used margarine in place of vegetable shortening. I'm sure that's why the cookies turned out a bit crisp. But the taste was still good. This recipe also worked for me because it didn't require a lot of mixing as the wet ingredients melted together on the stove. However, because the dough needed to be warm, you could only do a little at a time before you had to warm it up again. This became cumbersome (too much standing in the kitchen for me) and I ended up tossing about half the dough. We did get about 28 various sized cookies.

The kids decorated with some icing tubes I had and some sprinkles. It occupied them for a good hour or so - so the whole endeavor was a success. Lyssie, who doesn't normally care too much for cookies, likes these ones. I was a bit surprised as they are a bit on the hard side and not as sweet.

I hope to also make sugar cookies with them - although I might have to wait until my mom gets into town. If I can get to the store, I'll pick up some of the cookie mixes where I just have to add water. I know it's not the same, but it's better than nothing. I'd like to have a few more options to leave for Santa... although, in the past, Robbie has preferred to leave him chicken and broccoli.