Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe

Christmas brings a special kind of joy - it's a wonderful mixture of Thanksgiving gratitude, New Years hope, Halloween sweets, and the gift giving of birthdays. And yet, Christmas is more than just the sum of aspirations, gifts, and a great food. It's a reminder of love. Christmas is Love - entering into the hearts and minds of us all.

As you plan your Christmas season of parties, dinners, and gift giving, don't allow the current economic situation to spoil the spirit that Christmas should convey. I'm not saying to ignore or pretend that money isn't necessary. I'm merely suggesting that this is the time to remember that everyone can do something to see that no person, young or old, misses the joys of Christmas. There are Christmas trees to help trim. Carols to sing. Mistletoe, holly and jingle bells to hang. There's plum pudding to deliver and Dickens's Christmas Carol to recite. There are cranberries to string, popcorn balls and fruitcakes to distribute, and Clement Moore's The Night Before Christmas to read. There are reindeer to find, holiday cards to mail, and let's not forget, Christmas cookies to bake. But most of all, there is the spirit of Christmas - may it shine through everything you do this season including your memorable Christmas cookies.

Below is a cookie recipe handed down from my grandmother, to my mother, and then to me. The 3" x 5" card on which it was originally written has long since faded and the writing is now a bit hard to read but each year I pull it out anyway. There is something uplifting about seeing that old recipe card. And even though you aren't able to see or touch it, I just know you will enjoy making, sharing, and devouring the cookies as much as I do.

"Cowboy Cookys not Cookies"

Ingredients:

Butter (1 cup)

Brown Sugar (1 cup)

White Sugar (1 cup)

Eggs (2)

All purpose flour (2 cups)

Baking Powder (1/2 teaspoon)

Salt (1/2 teaspoon)

Pecans (chopped / 1 cup)

Chocolate Chips (2 packages)

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. In another, larger bowl, cream the butter, sugar and eggs. Once mixed, slowly add in the dry ingredients. Once all the ingredients are mixed together, drop the cookies by the tablespoon on to a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. The number of cookies depends on the size of each spoonful. Let cool and enjoy!

In the spirit of Christmas, if you double or even triple this recipe, you could box up the extras and deliver them to foreign students, veterans, shut-ins, hospital workers, senior living centers, and send them off to distant friends or relatives. And don't forget, empty coffee or soup cans and even plastic storage containers make excellent cookie gift containers. With just a little spray paint (gold, silver, or bronze) on the outside, a pretty little ribbon, and an attached Christmas card - your Christmas cookies will certainly be well received - but then, that's another story.

Merry Christmas!