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Tis the season for holiday baking!

For as long as I can remember, the girls in the family have gathered in the kitchen to perform the ritual of making yummy treats to give as gifts to our friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc.  When I was little Mamaw Franklin and Mom would plan the weekend (yes, it took more than one day) for baking and they would meticulously create the massive grocery list of items that would be needed.  Then they would shop for the delectable yumminess that would be transformed into our gifts.  Imagine the cart piled high with many pounds of butter, sugar, cream cheese, chocolate chips, marshmallow cream, eggs, Chex cereals, nuts, etc. etc. etc.

When the weekend arrived Mamaw, Mom, Missy and I would take our places in the kitchen, each with the responsibility of making their own specialty.  When Missy and I were little, our task was decorating the sugar cookies.  We took such pride in every cookie with its colored frostings and sugars.  As we got older and honed our skills, we were entrusted with more complicated recipes and eventually ventured out to introduce new favorites to the family.  As Missy and I have grown and made families of our own, we have carried on this holiday tradition.  Every year that we have been geographically close enough to one another, we have gathered to do the holiday baking.  Kaylea is now entrusted with decorating the sugar cookies; however, she likes eating them more than giving them away.  So, those jewels typically don't make it into our gift baskets.

I would like to share with you the recipes for some of our goodies.  The posts to follow will be those recipes.  I hope you enjoy making (and eating) them as much as we do!

P.S.  I am especially excited about doing the baking this year because I will be, once again, in the kitchen with my Mom.  It has been many years since we have shared this tradition and I look forward having this special time with her.