Yesterday we made a batch of shortbread cookies for distribution throughout the cul-de-sac.
We were a tad late to the holiday party. Four neighbors had already laid goodies on us by the time we got our asses in gear. And had I been in the driver’s seat, we would still be idling by the curb.
As usual, it was Herself who got us rolling. She dug out the recipe, added a few items to my grocery list, and started cranking out cookies like Mrs. Fields once I came back with the fixin’s.
I provided tech support for our elderly oven, which is the baker’s equivalent of driving a stick. I also took on the gruntwork of sliding trays of dough in and cookies out so that the baker could focus on her Art.
In the end we had just enough cookies to accommodate everyone who hadn’t fled The Duck! City to spend the holidays shivering in a snow-covered ditch or kipping on an airport floor.
While Herself distributed the sugar bombs I pulled on the rubber gloves and started policing up the kitchen. I was in dire need of a haircut and shave and didn’t want to frighten any children looking forward to a visit from St. Nick rather than Old Nick.
“Mommmmmmm! We already did Halloween! It’s supposed to be Christmastime!”
Mad Blog Media 
Ain’t having a little neighborhood wonderful? They do not exist much anymore and trying to find one was one of the reasons for moving into our current digs, in an over 55 development. Even if the odd neighbor is a grumpy old person, most are not. To see a group of neighbors out on the sidewalk chatting is a welcome sight. Maybe I am not the loner I though I was. Especially with my smarter half nudging me to get out more. Some of these folks have an interesting history. The guy down the street taught high school and college chemistry, invented the adhesive for gluing down raised lane markers on roads, and was aboard nuke submarine playing blind man’s bluff during the cold war.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42343.Blind_Man_s_Bluff
We’ve been very lucky with neighborhoods. The Patty Jewett Yacht & Gun Club was brimming with good people, and so is this one. Our grumpiest person may be the Trumpist mail carrier, but even he is a good neighbor. Just different politics, is all.
PO’G: Great banner/hed (or whatever the “where there ain’t no sanity clause” thing is called).
Happy, safe, and healthy Holidays to all!
Thanks, JD, and the same to thee and thine. Get a little cold up there in the forest the past few days, did it? Enough snow to have fun with, or was it just a nuisance?
Patrick: Un poquito frio! Minus 17F temp with minus 26F chill. Relatively little snow (<2 inches). Now a balmy 43F …. Santa will be happy!
My mom’s side of the family (Clan MacLaren) were strong believers in the healing power of shortbread. Guarantees good luck for the year if you step outside on the first of day of Janus’ month and the first package you encounter has shortbread in it.
This is our go-to:
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/recipes/4529-checkerboard-cookies
I like a shortbread cookie, but I prefer oatmeal or chocolate chip. Herself does a delicious lemon bar. And of course no pecan pie is safe in my vicinity.
Then you would have been in luck here! The girls whipped up (1) checkerboard shortbread (2) pumpkin oatmeal with a light icing drizzle, (3) coffee-sugar trees and stars, (4) the obligatory pecan ball / Russian tea cake / Mexican wedding cake, and an oldie I found accidentally, (5) cappuccino crinkles.
Merry Christmas to all you lords, ladies and bottom feeders like myself. May you relish in a delightful day that offers you love and friendship and a little thawing out if where you’re at is a bit cooler than your preference.
Shortbread cookies. Hmm? I just ran a memory scan and didn’t find any neurons that had encountered that task in the past. I think I might just have to make a new memory.
Shortbread cookies are the traditional Girl Scout Cookie for those who need their memories jogged.