Hi! Can you believe it’s almost Christmas? I’m very excited to spend time with mine and Jimmy’s families. This time of year–when we remember and celebrate Christ’s birth–is incredibly special. The traditions and festivities are always so memorable, too. Over the weekend, my mom and I decided to start a new tradition. We got together and spent the day baking cookies and treats, and assembled the baked goods on trays to give to our neighbors.
I think that we spent about eight hours baking. I’m sure four of those hours were probably spent laughing. I don’t know what it was, but we had a major case of the giggles all day. It could have been because my hand twitched when I was holding candy eyeballs?
Then I said something (I can’t remember what) and it made my mom laugh so hard that she drooled on a cookie…which we promptly threw away. We also burned a batch of gingersnaps and couldn’t figure out why. It turned out that we accidentally used wax paper to line the cookie sheet instead of parchment. Yikes!
My sister and her boyfriend were at my parent’s house for a little while on Saturday, and they wanted me to take pictures of them by the Christmas tree. Hannah’s boyfriend was helping her get ready and I walked by the bathroom and saw him blow drying her hair. It was such a sweet moment!
It was also nice to hang out with my parent’s dogs, Brandy and Reggie. When I talk to Jimmy about them I sometimes refer to them as one unit and call them “Breggie” haha.
My mom and I ended up making sugar cookies, gingersnaps, Russian tea cakes (also called snowballs or Mexican wedding cookies), peanut butter blossoms, penguin cookies, chocolate crinkles, cranberry bars, and peppermint bark. We both agreed that either the cranberry bars or the penguins were the hardest thing to make because they required so many different steps and ingredients. The easiest cookies were probably the Russian tea cakes. The treat that was the biggest hit was the peppermint bark.
Jimmy and I delivered cookie trays to seven of our neighbors on Sunday afternoon, and I don’t think I stopped smiling for the rest of the day. We both agreed that it felt amazing and like it was the least we could do to give back to the people who have been so friendly and welcoming to us since we moved to our community in 2014.
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On Dec 21, 2015, at 6:20 PM, Allie’s Life wrote:
WordPress.com Allie Zottola posted: “Hi! Can you believe it’s almost Christmas? I’m very excited to spend time with mine and Jimmy’s families. This time of year–when we remember and celebrate Christ’s birth–is incredibly special. The traditions and festivities are always so memorable, too.”
It was so much fun!
Mexican wedding cakes are one of my favorites but I would gladly gobble up those penguins! Actually the best cookie for me are called butterscotch haystacks. Literally butterscotch chips melted over chow mein noodles. YUM! I wish I was your neighbor 🙂
Butterscotch haystacks! I always forget about those! I saw your snap chat of a huge haystack yesterday and I was so jealous!
I wish we were neighbors, too! For so many reasons!
That would be fantastic! 🙂
ALL THE COOKIES!!!! 🙂
Yes!
OH MY GOSH SO MANY COOKIES. I want to live near you.
I want to live near you!! Much warmer where you are.. I’ll bring all my baking supplies 🙂
I’m with everyone else, THOSE COOKIES!! I adore the penguins every time I see them.
Awww, thanks! Aren’t the penguins just too cute? They always make me smile 🙂
It looks like you guys had such a good time. You and your mom’s relationship is so lovely.
Also those cookies look amazing.
We did have such a nice time together. I don’t get to see my mom half as much as I did when I was living with my parents, so it’s always special to spend time with her now. You know how it is!
Thanks for the compliments on the cookies, too!
Those cookies look so good! I’m glad you and your mom got to spend time together baking this holiday season and you shared them with your neighbors. That’s a really sweet way to show you care! The penguins are the best!
Thanks, Amy! I was so pumped to spend the day with her, too. Especially because we had the whole day together and we baked. Such a good combo, haha. Our neighbors were happy about the cookie trays. Jimmy and I were so delighted and surprised when a few neighbors came to our door a couple of days later and delivered us cookies they had baked or little gifts (chocolate bars and candy canes! Yum.). It made us so happy to know they we live in a caring little neighborhood with wonderful people!
Those cookies are THE cutest! Seriously, I’ve never before seen such a beautiful Christmas cookie platter, and I want to pin the picture for next year’s inspiration!!! 🙂 BEAUTIFUL…and they look delicious too!
(The penguins are absolutely perfect)!
Aw, thank you Nicole! That means a lot coming from the cupcake decorating queen (YOU!)!
I love your new tradition! My husband and I love baking cookies together. He’s actually way better at frosting them than I am! 😂
Thanks, Liz! How funny that your husband is better at frosting than you!! My husband is oftentimes better at doing crafty things (like wood burning) than me. It makes me jealous and also melts my heart at the same time!
The penguin cookies are too cute and I would DIE for some cranberry bark! So glad you had a great day with your mom 🙂 Her kitchen or yours?! It’s beautiful!
Thanks, Kylie!! We were in my mom’s kitchen. They just had it redone this year (AFTER I MOVED OUT–waaaaa haha) and I am in love with it, too. It’s all granite counters/islands and tile flooring. I think it was my mom’s plot to have a nice kitchen to get me to come over to her house more haha.
Wow, you certainly were two busy bakers! If I had to pick one of your Christmas cookies, I’d choose a chocolate crinkle, but it would be a difficult choice. 😀 The penguins are adorable.
Merry Christmas!
The penguin cookies are too adorable! I honestly want to eat ’em all though 😛
Thank you, P!! I wish you lived near by so we could bake and eat cookies together 🙂
Breggie! So fun.
I love this tradition. It makes me want to move to your neighborhood. (And not just for the cookies – think how much fun we would have as neighbors!)
We just started baking cookies for our neighbors last year, but it went over so well that we did it again this year. I LOVE it! It’s such a fun way to spread a little Christmas cheer. 🙂 We definitely didn’t get as fancy as you guys, though! We make chocolate gingersnap cookies every time because they’re easy, festive, and always a hit. But a cookie sampler plate is an awesome idea! They look so adorable!