So I took Sunday off from running because Lisa was off, and we would all be home and able to do our annual Christmas Cookie Baking Day! This year was special because … well, frankly because it is the first time in a few years that the kids had expressed an interest!
Danny had extra homework to do, so Lisa, Chris and I started off making dough – the picture above is the two head chefs with the first batch of dough in the Kitchen Aid.
Peppermint Pinwheels are made with half sugar cookie dough and half peppermint-flavored and red-food colored sugar cookie dough … and the best way is to just get in there – with the result that by the end you look like a murderer!
The dough doesn’t look too happy about the situation either!
With Lisa and Chris at the helm, most of my day was spent hunched over the sink replenishing supplies of measuring cups and spoons and washing the mixing bowls. Definitely not complaining – the three of us were having a blast working together, listening to Christmas songs and singing, dancing and laughing!
Lisa used a new technique for rolling the peppermint pinwheel dough involving a Silpat, and as a result the logs were bigger and much more uniform. The results definitely translated into the cookies!
Fortunately Danny finished his homework and was able to join us, and after baking everything else we got into forming the gingerbread!
We made our train, some large molded cookies, then a bunch of fun shapes using cookie cutters. Danny shows us one of his cats!
Lisa fits dough into the heart mold while Chris uses the Jammie Dodger cutters.
Ready for another inspired creation!
Decorating the gingerbread train – Danny was in charge of the icing to hold everything in place!
The gingerbread train is special because it is a tradition we started with the boys when they were little and kept going for years, but as they lost interest we stopped doing it a few years back. Having them engaged again made for such a wonderful day.
The final product – train around the back, then the four of us around a ‘blue ice’ fire, with Chris having a wheeling angel at his back, two dogs, two cats, and loads of other fun stuff.
And what better way to wind down the day than with a nice glass of wine and a great gingerbread cookie?
Hope everyone else had a great weekend!
Running Around the Bend 