You're all so sweet.

I made Christmas cookies. I usually do. I have a few standards that make an appearance every year. Nutty Nougats, which are like Russian Teacakes, only nuttier.  I usually make some form of peanut butter cookie. Lately it’s been PB Blossoms, with a nice big Hershey’s kiss stuck in the middle. I usually add two new cookies every year. Four is my limit though. A woman can only bake so much you know.

This year my new additions are Ginger Cookies (a classic) and Peppermint Meltaways. I chose the Peppermint cookies because they look so pretty in the picture. Buttery little button cookies with pretty pink icing and candy cane sprinkles. I decided to bake these last as my pièce de résistance.

First up, the standards which met with the usual approval….. “Mmm, these are my favorites.”……. “Now it feels like Christmas.” Then I made the ginger cookies, they were a big hit, chewy and spicy.

Time for the Peppermint Meltaways. What’s in these? Flour, butter, powdered sugar, peppermint extract, corn starch…. Corn Starch?? Really? OK, I won’t question it. The cookies came out of the oven golden brown and smelling good. Time for the butter frosting, tinged with peppermint and colored a festive red. Get out the icing bag and decorator tips and top the whole thing off with some crushed candy canes.

They’re beautiful. Let’s try one. Buttery cookie with sweet frosting and nice crunch from the candy canes. But something’s not right here. These don’t taste right. Cookies shouldn’t melt in your mouth. Cookies need substance, whether it’s chewy or crunchy.

It was then that it struck me that cookies are like people. You can dress them up to be all pretty and flashy but if you don’t have the basic ingredients in the right proportions, they just aren’t right. People need compassion, honesty, humility, humor, love and kindness.

So my friends and family, take it as high praise when I say that you are all like a nice, big, chewy peanut butter cookie to me. Simply divine. If you get a few of the peppermint cookies on the plate I send to you, it’s OK to not like them. They’re just there for show. Go for the good old standards, they never disappoint. MERRY CHRISTMAS!