What fun this is! Grandmas and Moms who love to decorate cookies!

Our daughter refers to me as the Swedish Chef, mostly because my cooking messes are a given. Plus there is nothing like cooking together over the years, to go from mom on the pedestal to mom, the Swedish chef!

I added the above to today's post, because the Swedish Chef rather than Julia Child has always been my kitchen hero. This one is short, and well to the point, but if you enjoy him too, click on the title to take you to You Tube for more of his delightful creating.

 http://createacookie.parents.com/createacookie/index.php?CardID=107577  
My first, but definitely not my last creation!

We're starting to get ready for our annual "Baking Day" on the first Saturday in December. This started after our daughter was about 5 and we lived in TX. DH had the Scout Fair on that day, so he was gone all day, and would come home worn out, but pretty quickly revived after smelling the wonderful creations of the day. His favorites are Spritz cookies, and this recipe for Lemon Cheese Spritz Cookies is one I plan to try this year.

But the fun(and work!) of the day is in making cutout cookies to decorate. You might do sugar or gingerbread, and probably have a favorite family recipe. But especially for those of you out there who have older kids, comfortable with using a mouse, the site below is free, offers a great tool for practicing designing Christmas fun, and best of all calorie and mess free! Lots of colors of frosting to chose from, one button icing of the whole cookie, sprinkles, candy... well you really can have some fun. On the first page there is a link to the official rules, if the sweepstake is the most important part for you, and someone is going to win $1000. (Just saying...)  But I've already created a couple while writing this post, just cause they are so much fun. Went in to count the available shapes and got carried away and sent one to our dd. :) Just couldn't resist, and you can personalize them with a message and email them to someone you love. If you have a son or daughter in one of the armed services, this could be a great beginning to a wonderful Christmas surprise of getting cookies in the mail...

URL below is the entry point to the cookie creator    Have you some free fun!
http://www.parents.com/fun/create-a-cookie/?sssdmh=dm17.484718&esrc=nwbhgsweeps&email=1342371238