In my youth, we made Martha Washingtons at Christmastime.  I always loved the part that came after my mom had rolled 8,437 little balls of nougat, walnuts and coconut and stuck them with toothpicks.  My brothers and I would anxiously wait for the double boiler to melt the chocolate to just the right consistancy, then proceed to make a mess all over the counter dipping balls into chocolate, placing them on cookie sheets, and dipping them again once the first coat hardened. 

I was never a fan of candied coconut, so I didn’t actually partake of the Martha Washingtons, but I definitely enjoyed making them.  My brother loved them – still does – and mom ships off a box of them to Philadelphia every year that he doesn’t make it home to partake during the holidays.  It must cost a fortune, because they are as heavy as bricks.  He must be her “favorite”…

At my house we don’t make my mom’s standard, but we do make cookies during the holidays.  The other night I made some delicious oatmeal cookies.  The recipe is on the lid of the Quaker Oats container.  Because I don’t like to do things the way eeryone else does, I used dried cranberries instead of raisins.  The extra $$ spent on craisins is worth it, believe me.  YUM!

Last year, I had my sister over for a cookie making party.  We had recently moved into a new house and the kitchen has a wonderful, large granite-topped island.  It is perfect for making a crapload of cookies!  The kids helped with the cookies, so the icing job was spotty, at best.  But the point of this cookie-making endeavor is not really the perfection of the result, is it?  It’s the taste… and the time spent with family making things for each other. 

I have the rice crispies ready to be made into bars, and the ingredients for chocholate drop peanut butter cookies… now I just need to corral my kids and clean off the island.  Wish me luck.