Christmas Cookies to Elevate Your Mood

I didn't write a blog post yesterday.  I got up and thought I would submit to The Tampa Review, but their Submission Manager didn't recognize me.  It's a pre-Submittable submission manager, and I've tried the reset password option with other journals, with no luck.

So I was feeling a bit of despair, but I typed in some poems that I want to include in a chapbook that I'm creating.  My spouse woke up early, and we decided to take advantage of the early hour and go to Target.  But because he was up early, he was a bit snarly, which plunged me back into depression.

I was also feeling a bit overwhelmed, again, by home repairs and all that needs to be done.  It took me a long way to crawl out of my depression.  Along the way, I sprayed weed killer on the paver bricks, which have been sprouting weeds and grass at a high pace since the hurricane.  It didn't improve my mood.

What helped?  Cooking.  I made homemade pizza, which is enough like bread baking that it spoke to my soul.  I also made a cookie dough, one of the ones we always made at Christmas.  It's a sugar cookie, rolled and cut, and decorated with powdered sugar frosting.  I took the dough to our friends' house, and we finished the cookies together.

In case you need something sweet to help, here's the recipe. 

Sugar Cookies
2 sticks butter, softened
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
¼ C. milk
2tsp. baking powder
4 C. flour
2 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter, sugar, eggs. Add milk and dry ingredients. Roll out to ¼ inch thickness on a floured board and cut with cookie cutters. Sprinkle with colored sugar or leave plain to frost when cool (or to enjoy plain). Bake 10 minutes at 375. Easy frosting: moisten powdered sugar with enough milk to make spreadable and tint with food color.
Today I'll be making more cookies.  I have a cookie swap to go to on Wednesday, and I can't arrive empty handed.  I'm trying out a new recipe, and returning to at least one old standard.

And today, at church, is the decorating of the gingerbread cookies, an annual event.  I like my cookie plain, so that's what I'll be eating for breakfast.  And lunch.  I'll take pictures of it all and report back.