NATIONAL COOKIE DAY

December 4, 2019

Today is National Cookie Day, and I will spend some time making cookies.

Christmas cookies have been a part of my life my whole life.  I remember the year that my mother went to a party and came home raving about "Goodness Sake cookies," which she  then made and became one of my favorite cookies.  I learned later they were Mexican Wedding cookies, balls of cookies with chopped pecans rolled in powdered sugar.  I still love them, but rarely make them because I'm lazy and they take more time than drop cookies.

I also loved the year she made cookies withw raspberry jam in the middle.

She made sseveral different cookies that year and many years later I was broken hearted to learn she had thrown away her big cookbook that had those recipes, as well as all of my favorite recipes of hers in them.  it never occurred to her that I might like the book.  But I found the jam cookies on my own.

I loved how often she filled our cookie jar with cookies, especially at Christmas.

I went on to become a cookie baker and when I was working at the Physics Department, I baked dozens of kinds of cookies each year and had a week-long open house in my office (never did THAT again, but it was great fun when I did).

Naturally I went on to make Christmas cookies with the kids when I had children.  I made all kinds of cookies, but naturally the favorites were always chocolate chip.

When I took a cake decorating class, I learned how to make a gingerbread house, which I made for Paul for his birthday.

It was fun to work together with Ndangi from Zaire and Chieko from Japan to make a gingerbread house for Christmas.

Not sure what cookies I will make today.  Maybe my favorites, Snickerdoodles.

 

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My stomach has been in knots since I received a note from the husband of one of my high school best friends, Anne Micheletti, that she died in July.

She and I worked almost single-handedly in doing the yearbook, when we could not get anyone else to help.  We were in a small group that did a lot of things socially.

After graduation she became a nurse and she married an actor and moved to Southern California.  It's been more than 50 years since I've seen her, but we exchanged family news each Christmas.  It just hurts to know that she is gone.  She was my age and died of an intracranial hemorrhage.