Christmas cookies

Tomorrow we are having a holiday cookie decorating party. All week, Nipper Knapp has been barely able to tamp down his anxiety, nor mask his horror that I have invited 35 people, including 12 kids under the age of 4 to our house to FROST things. Maybe it's not the wisest decision. But I love this time of year. I love the smells and the music, and the way every day is filled with anticipation.

When I was a kid my dad was the principal of the local elementary school. There was a lady named Lucy Lachance who made christmas cookies every year, and we would get a giant tray with dozens of different cookies. Lucy was also the only person I ever knew who had a swimming pool, and she let us swim in it whenever we wanted. The thing is, I can't remember what Lucy looked like, or how our family new her. She didn't live in our neighborhood. What I do remember is my parents telling me that Lucy had diabetes and couldn't eat those cookies that she made us. But every year she did it. It was her thing. It must have taken her weeks to prepare them all. Did her husband think she was crazy? Did she even have a husband? Did she just love to bake? I'll never know.

But for as much craziness as baking 200 cookies has brought to my kitchen this week, and who knows what will happen tomorrow, this is a memory that I will enjoy for a long time. And who knows, maybe it will become our family tradition... The 10th Annual Knapp Family Cookie Party! (Sorry Nipper)

I just read this sweet sweet article in the LA Times and wanted to share it with you. It made me weepy, because Christmas turns me into a sappy puddle. Don't fret, by next week, I'll be back to cursing Santa Monica moms and shaving dirty words into my hair line...

Sweet memories of Mom's Christmas cookies -- latimes.com

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