Cookie Bliss

We started a new tradition last year: on the Wednesday before Christmas we all (my sisters, my daughter Sophia and I) all gather at my mom's (Cindy's) house for a day of cookie baking and decorating. It's a tradition that is a bit of a continuation of how it was when we were little and all still living at home. Now we thoroughly enjoy an excuse to get together.

Last year we had plenty of snow on the ground and all though we don't have any yet, there were flurries in the air. With that, my "Holiday" playlist and all the sprinkles we were tossing around it was perfectly festive!

 Here are my beautiful sisters: Alissa on the left (she's the one getting married in February!) and Rachel on the right (she's going to be in Madrid, Spain for Christmas...lucky little duck).

And here's Me and Sophia.

(Grandma was behind the camera the whole time.)

The last two years I have used the "Day of Baking" as an opportunity to tryout new cookie recipes. Last year I debut a delicious recipe for Cranberry Orange Cookies--they were AMAZING, so I had to make them again. My new recipe for this year was this Chocolate Chunk and Orange Biscotti which I modified from Mary Ann Esposito recipe for Chocolate-Pistachio Biscotti; I eliminated the pistachios, added chunks of chocolate and orange zest and drizzled the same icing from the cookies on top. Both recipes call for orange juice and zest, which for some reason I absolutely LOVE in holiday cookies. 

Chocolate Chunk and Orange Biscotti

Cranberry and Orange Cookies

Along with the cookie experiments we also make traditional sugar cookies and Ohio Buckeyes. YUM! We do some serious decorating. Check out the concentration:

 And the finished product ( I love the lobster!)

Now we just have to eat them! Holiday traditions are the BEST!

--Sarah