CHRISTMAS COOKIES

I hadn’t made cut-out Christmas cookies since my kids were little (in the last century).  I got out the old, yellowed Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  Half way into the job, the electric mixer started shooting sparks.  But I finished without the benefit of modern appliances.

Before you can cut out cookies, you have to let the dough chill.  Two days later I was ready to make cookies - but the dough had turned into a cement blob.

No prog.  The “pecan crisp” recipe looked easy and didn’t have to be chilled.  With my new mixer, I got to work.  They came out of the oven a little flat and definitely not “crisp.”  Maybe my flour wasn’t self-rising flour.  Who knows?

I needed cookies, and I had one foolproof recipe for ginger molasses cookies that I could count on.  It was getting late, so I quickly put it together.  Hmmm.  This dough was mighty liquid.  Never saw it that way before.  Oops.  The recipe just above this one called for three eggs.  This one called for one. 

Again, no prob.  I’ll just add a little flour.  Then another dab of molasses.  The first batch of cookies came out of the oven too dry.  Maybe they needed a little more butter, but I was out of butter.  Years ago, I made them with Crisco and they tasted fine.  Vegetable oil should work.  Oops.  Too much oil.  A little oatmeal should soak up that oil.  I added the rest of the molasses for good luck.  It was still oily, so I added a couple more cups of flour.  The cookies turned out a little tough, but tasted good.  Five dozen cookies later, I went to bed.

The next morning, I bit into a cookie and almost broke my teeth. I threw them all away.  It might be another century before I try baking cookies again!