Happy Holidays!

Annual cookie baking marathon came and went. I baked three kinds of cookies a day for three days in a row. I can't bake 4 or 5 different cookies a day like I used to... All-time favorites included

• Lemon thin :double batch
  
• Thumbellina (also called thumb print): double batch
  
• Black and white chocolate: double batch, three variations
  
• Mexican Wedding
• Rosemary

Thumbellina cookies were especially adorable this year. I used 4 different jams/preserves that I made this year: strawberry balsamic, peach rosemary, raspberry, and concord. All the fruits were local with raspberry from our own back-yard garden. All the eggs were from Nancy and I weighted each egg to screen out large size eggs (between 2 and 2.25 oz). With no local flour mill around, it is hard to be "all local" when you bake, but I tried to use organic ingredient whenever possible.
Rosemary cookies were a bit different this year. Instead of chewy version that I have been making for the past 6 years, I made a buttery version but still kept the touch of lemon, by coating the dough with lemon sugar before cutting them to bake.

The new flavors/recipes for this year were

• sesame
  
• macadamia nut and coconut
• cardamom with pistachio
  
• mocha meringue

I put a little less flour by mistake in sesame cookies and they came out more like tulle, which I liked a lot - a fortunate mistake? I don't like coconuts in baked goods much, and thus seldom make coconut cookies. However, my coworker loves coconut and I love macadamia nut and thus tried the macadamia and coconut cookie recipe, which turned out very well.
I have to say cardamom cookies with pistachio topping was the best for me and Dan this year. It is really pleasing to find a new recipe you like and add it to the "favorite" list. Mocha meringue cookies are gluten free - Shannon, I kept some for you!

There are a few more recipes that I like to try to sweeten this weekend. Hope everyone stays safe and warm on this new year's eve. Have a happy and prosperous new year!

Yeon