Day 146 Great Sally's Christmas Sugar Cookies

Well today was the day!  MY WHOLE LIFE my Aunt Sally has always had THE Christmas sugar cookies. If you'd been good that year, you got cookies.  If not....bummer for you because no one is going to share theirs with you.  AT. ALL.  In fact...we will hide them from you.  Never tell you we received them. And eat them in secret!  But this year...this year just might be different!!

Aunt Sally came to my very own house from Weatherford (about 45 minutes away) and gave me one easy lesson and helped me make my own dough!!! I just wish it were like Friendship starter bread dough...you make your own and then it just lasts!  :) 

 We've all had copies of the recipe for "Sally's Christmas Cookies" over the years but my whole life we have sworn that she does something different to the ingredients than what is listed on the recipe.  She brought the book today to prove....that no, really, there is no secret ingredient!  I saw it with my own eyes...no secret.  And yes...the recipe is written on a piece of paper that is nearly as old as I am.  I learned today that maybe...just maybe the secret is in the process.  Mix this first.  Sift that here with that.  Add this all slowly.  Maybe...just maybe that will allow me to make my own batch. 

So now I have seen her make the dough.  I've made it with the "Real Sugar Cookie Queen" in my own house and have 2 batches in my fridge...waiting.  Chiling.  Ready to used (and eaten) tomorrow morning!  We haven't nibble on it since it's been in there!  At all!  But as I'm typing this I'm thinking..."oooohh!  cookie dough!" 

The rest of the story I have to tell is that when I was about 9 years old I asked Aunt Sally if she was going to be baking some pies.  Yes...she said.  I asked if she was making them at Grandma Smalley's house.  Yes...she said.  Can I help you, I asked.  Yes...she said.  The rest of the story is that 9 pie crusts later....there was FLOUR EVERYWHERE.  We were literally wearing it...all over us and all over Grandma Smalley's house.  Just today with Aunt Sally (my kids call her Great Sally) re-telling me the story she said that she could remember Grandma (Toots--some called her that!) came walking down the hall, saw the disaster of flour in the kitchen that we had made, nearly had a cow and turned around and walked away. All the while, Aunt Sally promising that yes indeed we would clean up the kitchen...and ourselves! :)    Thanks Great Sally!!!  Thanks for holding that memory for me!

Oops!  Great Sally caught me! 

THIS is why I "should" be out running!  ;)

PS ....me and 4 kids all just had  a spoonful of cookie dough! Yep...its good!
 

THANKS GREAT SALLY!  Just sorry you'll miss the mess of actually MAKING and ICING the cookies! :)  With 4 kids under the age of 7!!!!