Baking and decorating Christmas cookies was a popular time at Christmas in our house. Somewhere I have pictures of my kids, as well as every child I babysat with, decorating cookies.
I would make a big batch of dough for cutting the shapes and enough frosting and sprinkles for each child to have their own plate of the colors they chose to use.
There would be the ones in a high chair, decorating one cookie over and over, (after licking it clean) and the older kids taking their time to design their own cookies. Yes, there were plenty of frosting sprinkles everywhere else, but watching and listening to them was priceless.
Those kids soon went to school or moved, and I would make some for a few of my older friends. The Candy Cane style seemed to be a favorite with Bernice (States) Cain, because she would ask every year when I was going to deliver hers so she would be home!
Because I fed her cats when she went on her many trips, I knew where the key to her house was. One time, while she was at a club meeting, I delivered a tray of cookies on her birthday which was November 17. I got a call later that evening when she called to tell me she discovered them on the coffee table in the living room as she was settling in for the evening. She really got a kick out of that and every birthday after, she would bring it up.
At age 85, after suffering a stroke on February 21, she died on July 17, 1995. We were in the Eastern Star and Choir for many years together. When I think of her, I smile.
Wishing everyone a healthy and safe holiday season.
Jean Borgeson