You know it 'Tis the Season....

You know it 'tis the season when you can't remember sleeping last night.

I had a cookie exchange to attend today. I planned to bake Snickerdoodles last night. I wasn't procrastinating. My reasons were that they would be fresher baked less than 24 hours before distribution and they weren't likely to all disappear with milk or coffee during this time frame.

The result was horrible. I wouldn't have given the cookies to anyone. I think my baking soda was too old. Before getting to the baked disaster, I almost had a personal disaster while getting the first sheet into the oven. Two would-be cookies rolled off the sheet unbeknown to me and I stepped on them. As I slid at least 18 inches before jolting myself upright, I had a million thoughts in those few seconds including:

What am I slipping on???

Don't drop the cookie dough!

Please don't leave me without 48 'good' cookies!

I hope I don't mess up these pants which I planned to wear again before laundering.

and finally

I hope I don't break anything....like a bone!

Nothing broke. When I stopped in an upright position, I dropped 5 more cookie dough blobs into the bottom of the oven. I turned the heat off, removed the racks and pulled the liner out to get to the blobs. I ripped the oven liner in the process.

After taking the second sheet of baked cookies out of the oven, I tasted one from the first sheet. Ptooey!  I got up early this morning to start peanut butter cookies. Forget the Snickerdoodles. For one thing, I used up the last of the cinnamon last night.

Uh oh...I didn't have enough shortening. Or peanut butter. And a fresh box of baking soda would probably be a good idea. Bless my husband's heart, he took pity on his frustrated wife and went to the store for 4 items. He came home with 20, but that is another story.

Plain ole peanut butter cookies got made. They don't look Christmasy next to cut out cookies or many other varieties, but they tasted at least 200% better than last night's cookies.

I'm old enough to know that there are times you should say "Thanks for thinking of me, but I can't attend/participate in xxx event this time". Good friends should understand and those who don't....well, they don't pay your medical bills when you slide across the kitchen floor on raw cookie dough and break your tookus (the Latin term would be Hind-Endicus) on the oven door.

The cookie exchange has ended and now that I am back home, a half bottle of wine has mysteriously disappeared.  

'Tis the season....