Baked Goods

I'm sure I was cute like this.  Yeah, right.

Christmas time always provides a wealth of memories, and I’m no exception.  What is most vivid is…cookies.  Lots of special Christmas cookies.  It helped to make me what I am today.

Fat.

I’ve always had a weakness for baked goods.  You might be thinking, “Well, if that’s the case, why didn’t you run a bakery instead of an ice cream parlor.” 

We almost did.  We actually looked at several bakeries in our search for a business, but they either were

(a) non-money makers, a common problem in this day-and-age when the “local bakery” = “Safeway” or

(b) too expensive for us. 

It’s probably a good thing we didn’t buy one, as I’d probably weigh 100 pound more than I do now.  And Mona would, too (her weakness for beaked good might be even more-so than my own).  No wonder we’re so compatible.  This lovin’ in the oven explains why it’s so easy to buy presents for us.  Think: food.

Family and friends thought so.  All this past week we’ve enjoyed Danish Kringle, Scottish Bannock, and Hungarian Beigli.  We still have a couple of unopened prizes in the fridge – some unmarked breakfast bread from Vermont with cheese and bacon, and something else marked “refrigerate immediately” – that’s all we know.  Those are magic words, by the way - “refrigerate immediately.”  Sigh.

And cookies.  Christmas cookie are magical.  You get types of cookies in December that you never get any other time of the year.  Coconut cresents.  Thumbprint cookies.  Lebkuchens.  Gingerbread people.  Snickerdoodles.  Snowballs.  RUM BALLS.  Pretty sure I got my first buzz as a nine-year old eating too many rum balls.

And how do curry favor with Santa?  Leave cookies.  No brainer.

This carries over to daily life, too.  You want to build camaraderie at the office?  You bring donuts.  We should extend this – you want world peace?  Tell Pakistan that it’s their turn on Friday to bring donuts for everyone (and toss in a few bagels, OK?).  Deed done.  War is over, if you bake it.

Forget fancy state dinners.  Coffee (or tea) and pastries.  Maybe some bagels with cream cheese and lox, or petit fours, or even a bear claw or some éclairs.  Maple bar, scones, cupcakes, turnovers, cinnamon rolls, brownies, cake, PIE!

And cookies galore.

I think I gained five pounds writing this.  Merry eating to all.