Christmas Dinosaurs

Yesterday was baking day…This may be a new Christmas tradition in our family.  I have not really done much Christmas baking since…well, ever!  In the past few years I have made things (chocolate biscotti) for cookie exchanges, but any Christmas goodies around our house have been given to us by friends!  But, this year Hannah is not only old enough to help with the process, she is also (very) interested in sampling the results!  So, we decided it was time to try making some Christmas Cookies!  We turned on some Christmas music and…

I don’t own a rolling pin (thus the lack of Christmas baking in previous years!), so we had to get a little creative.  I have discovered that a drinking glass is a very acceptable substitute, and did the job quite nicely!  Hannah picked out the cookie cutters , and helped me cut out the cookies.  I let her try it on her own at one point, but she got a little over-zealous, and by the time she was finished, there really weren’t any discernable shapes in the dough!  At least she seemed to have fun…  

I let her taste some of the cookie dough – which, of course she loved!  But, I think she got a little confused when I then told her she had to wait until after they had baked to eat the cookies!  She sat in front of the oven, and watched them!  She would narrate what was inside – “Mommy, there’s the stars!”  “Look Mommy! A Christmas tree!!” and, my favorite, “Oh! There’s my dinosaur!” 

What?  You didn’t make Christmas dinosaurs this year?  Earlier this year, my mom gave Hannah a bucket of cookie cutters for her play-doh.  Somewhere in the 100 plus shapes, Hannah became attached to a dinosaur.  As soon as I asked her if she would like to use some of her cookie cutters to make Christmas cookies with me, she began talking about how we were going to make a dinosaur cookie.  Yesterday morning, I pulled out all of the Christmas-themed cutters and gave them a good bath.  She sorted through the rest, and noticed that I had “forgotten” her dinosaur.  She brought it to me and begged for a dinosaur cookie.  A Christmas dinosaur?  Why not?!  We have flying reindeer, and a fat man in a red suit squeezing down chimneys this time of year…why not a dinosaur too?!  (As you can see, she was quite proud of her creation!)

After the cookies cooled, I made Hannah the official “sprinkler”!  I put on the frosting, and she added the finishing touches of colorful sprinkles and sugar to all of the cookies…and the floor.  I also caught her sneaking a taste or two of the sprinkles when she thought mommy wasn’t looking!  They may not be professional looking, but they taste good.  Besides, we weren’t going for perfection, we were going for fun! 

We now have an abundance of tasty, Christmasy treats in the house! 

The sugar coma should last well into the new year…