They Always Come In Three's

I have been so busy lately it's hard to catch my breath. I'm sure that's normal for most of us this time of the year. However, I've encountered a few bumps along the way as I have tried to make this a good Christmas for my family and friends, even though holidays suck big time to me. I won't say anymore lest I cry.

• I haven't made Christmas cookies in a few years because that's what my mom and I used to do together. This year I thought, 'Hey, what a good idea making cookies would be.' It wasn't. Tot made cookies with me. Yes, I let him make cookies with me. Aren't I a good mom?! We made gingerbread men. It took forever and I had a huge mess to clean up. I hate messes in the kitchen. The boys and I tried the cookies after dinner. I literally spit mine out! I never like to do that in front of the boys, but they were awful! Too much molasses I think. I followed the recipe exactly. The boys loved them, though.

• The next day I thought I would make my Grandmother's German butter cookies recipe. It makes lots of cookies, and I thought it would be nice if I gave some to the neighbors and such. This recipe includes putting the dough through a cookie press. I bought this cookie press at William's Sonoma a few years back, and loved it. This year, not so much. I won't get into the gory details, but let's just say this cookie press ended up in our garbage can in not the same condition it was when it left its' box. Some banging and throwing took place, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

• The next day I decided to make my grandmother's meltaway cookies. I had already bought the ingredients, and the recipe is really easy. Plus, it involves chocolate. Yum!....... It also required the use of our hand mixer. The same mixer I had used the day before with the butter cookie disaster. Guys, as I was mixing the dough I smelled something. Then I saw it. Smoke. My mixer was literally starting to burn. I'm thinkin' someone or something was trying to tell me not to bake this year. Not to try to make this holiday better. It blows and in some ways I think it always will.