12 Days of Christmas - Day 12

Samples of Gourmet Tea

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

On the 12th Day of the 12 Days of Christmas there are Twelve Lords a-Leaping about. If the hub-bub of the holidays has you completed exhausted and tired of the gathering noise and chaos, you might want to sit down for a moment and enjoy a relaxing cup of tea and a good book. It's something that Grandma Rachel herself likes to do when she has a moment.

Grandma's Attic also includes a teabag in our mail order packages. If you've ever longed to try a sampling of all our our teas, this is your opportunity to relax, sit back, and enjoy a refreshing cup of gourmet tea! By popular demand, we've put together a sample packet of our gourmet teas. Each packet contains 17 flavor sealed, foil wrapped tea bags--one each of the delicious flavors of tea we carry at Grandma's Attic Teabags included are: Blueberry, Camomile, Canadian Icewine, Cranberry, Darjeeling, Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Green, Mango, Maple, Monk's Blend, Orange Pekoe, Peach Apricot, Pure Peppermint, Rooibos, Strawberry and Vanilla.

Twelve Days of Christmas Fun Fact: If you've been keeping track of how much the Twelve gifts your true love sends to you will cost, hiring twelve acrobatic Lords a-Leaping will cost $524.34 each, for a total of $6,292.08. Total cost for the entire Twelve Days of Christmas, if you were to give the gifts just once per verse, is $29,102.55. Now if only you knew what to do with all those birds, musicians, and dancers!

It is interesting to note that the historical observance of Twelve Days of Christmas is almost a forgotten tradition in the United States. Among the varied reasons why this might be the case is that the celebration of New Year's Eve, with all of the attendant parties and traditions of its own, has gained so much popularity. While most of us might have "dropped the ball" (so to speak) on the Twelve Days of Christmas, many people both here and abroad still keep the Twelve Days of Christmas warm in their hearts. And we here at the shop, earnestly hope that all of us together can keep the spirit of joy, fellowship and good cheer going long after the Christmas season has ended.

Twelve Days of Christmas Quote:  "Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart...filled it, too, with melody that would last forever." < Bess Streeter Aldrich, American Author, 1881-1954>


Our 12 Days of Christmas pattern is taken from our 12 Days of Christmas Block of the Month Club. You can also order the pattern by itself.
 

12 Days of Christmas - Day 11

Batik Butterflies

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

Day 11 of the12 Days of Christmas finds Eleven Ladies Dancing. Such a beautiful and lyrical image in our classic Christmas song brought to our mind the gracefulness and beauty of the butterfly. With that in mind, we thought about how you might like to create a beautiful butterfly quilt to bring them dancing into your sewing room as they come to life under your machine. Batik Butterflies, designed by Roxy Burgard of Calico Hills Farm, consists of 12 butterfly blocks, each based on a real butterfly. Set on point, each is surrounded by wonderful batik fabrics. You will have a lowly 48" x 60" quilt when you've completed the project.

Twelve Days of Christmas Fun Fact: If your true love hires a troupe of dancers to dance for you at Christmas time, it will cost $839.20 per dancer. Therefore, eleven ladies dancing will cost a total of $ 9,231.20.

Although the Twelve Days of Christmas has been sun in English since the 1780s, many scholars thing that the song may have French origins. In an 1855 French songbook, there is a folk song that has a tremendous similarity to the Twelve Days of Christmas. On the eleventh day in this particular folk song, instead of eleven ladies dancing, the singer gives his love eleven silver plates.

Christmas Quote: "At Christmas play and make good cheer for Christmas comes but once a year." < Thomas Tusser, English Poet, 1524-1580 >

12 Days of Christmas - Day 10

Homeland Army Block of the Month

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

Day 10 of the12 Days of Christmas features 10 Pipers Piping. Pipers puts us in a Patriotic Mood--and what could be more patriotic than the Homeland Army Block of the Month Club. Members of this Block of the Month Club discover how World War I changed everything for women, and that life is different today because of the contributions made by heroic men and women during this time period. In this club, you discover how world events nearly 100 years ago continue to shape our lives today. Each month, you receive the fabric you need to create a 12" quilt block, plus an informational magazine and omnibus booklet. This is one information-packed club!

Twelve Days of Christmas Fun Fact: In the Middle Ages, the Twelve Days of Christmas was a period of continuous feasting and merrymaking. Traditional Roles were relaxed so that masters waited on their servants, men dressed as women, and women were allowed to dress as men!

To hire Ten Pipers Piping will cost you $239.56 each, for a total of $2,395.60. (We want to know why it's only $72.80 for one hour of maids milking, but drummers and pipers cost you so much more!)

Christmas Quote: "Never worry about the size of your Christmas Tree. In the eyes of children, they are all thirty feet tall." < Larry Wilde, Author & Humorist, 1928- >

12 Days of Christmas - Day 9

Earlene Fowler Mysteries

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

Day 9 of the12 Days of Christmas is about drummers. If the nine drummers drumming are giving you a headache, you might be able to take your mind off of them by immersing yourself in an Earlene Fowler Mystery. Named after quilt block patterns, the books in this series feature Benni Harper, a spirited ex-cowgirl, quilter and folk art expert. She's staking out her own corner of the contemporary American West. With an eye for murderous designs and talent for piecing together crimes you'll love reading her novels. 

Twelve Days of Christmas Fun Fact: There are many different variations of the songs in which the gifts are arranged in a different order. (For example, they might have twelve lords a-leaping rather than eleven, or ten drummers drumming instead of nine.)

The version of the song that we use is the same one used in the Aunt Martha Twelve Days of Christmas embroidery patterns. This is also why you sometimes see the last part of the song in a different order than one in which you might be more familiar. If your true love hired nine drummers to drum for you, it would cost $237.88 for each musician, for a grand total of $2,140.92.

Christmas Quote: "Mankind is a great, an immense family. This is proved by what we feel in our hearts at Christmas." < Pope John XXIII, 1881-1963 >

12 Days of Christmas - Day 8

Grandpa's Farm Block of Month

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

Day 8 is all about Eight Maids a Milking.The maids may be missing and there's only one cow on our Grandpa's Farm Block of the Month quilt, but we think you will enjoy it all the same. Created by Roxy Burgard of Calico Hills Farm, the quilt contains 14 individual 12" blocks depicting a variety of farm scenes surrounding a large center panel featuring the barn. Each kit contains the fabric you need to create a block or panel.

Twelve Days of Christmas Fun Fact: Did you know that the Twelve Days of Christmas was originally a memory and forfeit game? To play, a circle of players were gathered and each person took turns to say the first line of each rhyme. When the turn circled back to the first player, that player includes the second line of the version to the song and around it goes again. Sounds easy, but having heard the song so many times over the years, we would probably have a huge advantage over the players who first played this game hundreds of years ago when it was new.

Assuming that you are only using temporarily donated cows, and not purchasing them, hiring the "Eight Maids a Milking" for an hour at the standard rate of $9.10 per hour (minimum wage here in Oregon), the Eighth Day of Christmas will cost you $72.80.

Christmas Quote:  "Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas."

12 Days of Christmas - Day 7

Flour Sack Dishtowels

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

Day 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas features Seven Swans a Swimming. And while swans may not swimming in the kitchen sink, you can be mopping up the mess with these big and thirsty Flour Sack Dishtowels. In fact, you can have a towel for every day of the week! These old-fashioned flour sack towels are NEW and IMPROVED. They are pre-washed, bleached, hemmed on all four sides, and made from 130 thread count 100% cotton. Perfect for embroidering or applique, they are just like the ones Grandma used to "get the job done" whether it was drying the dishes, proofing the bread dough, burping the baby, or mopping up spills. These lint-free, fast drying towels are approximately 30" square. Each bundle contains seven towels.

Twelve Days of Christmas Fun Fact: Over the years, there have been many parodies of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Some are funny, some are naughty, and some are so completely in bad taste as to not be believed. We think that the parodies are the result of the massive popularity of the song and a reflection of how many people throughout the world know this song. Among the parodies that we know of, we have heard ones sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks, Jeff Foxworthy's "Redneck", the Muppets and Alan Sherman. 

Seven swans cost $1,000 each, for a whopping total of $7,000. That's quite a jump in price, isn't it? If you're counting, the total cost for the items listed for the first seven days of Christmas is $8,969.95.

Christmas Quote: "Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, and the genial flame of charity in the heart." < Washington Irving, American Author, 1783-1859 >

12 Days of Christmas - Day 6

Fabulous Fabric Packs

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

Day 6 of the 12 Days of Christmas is all about those Six Geese A-Laying. Six geese, while lovely to look at, would probably ruin your backyard in no time flat. Instead, we've got bundles of six fun fat quarters at Super Holiday Savings. Our Fabulous Fabric Packs are great for stocking up your stash. All fabrics are 100%, high quality cotton. If you order more than one fabric packet in the same colorway, we'll make sure you get packets containing different prints. These are definitely a fun treat for yourself or a gift for your favorite quilter, fabric artist, or crafter! To order, click here.

12 Days of Christmas Fun Fact:  One way to interpret the lyrics of this song is that on each new day, all of the gifts that were previously given by "my true love" are given again! This would make the total number of gifts (counting 12 partridges, 22 turtle doves, etc.) equal to 364 gifts in all, one fewer than the number of days in a full year. However, there are 376 gifts total if you count the pear tree as a separate gift aside from the partridge itself. It is interesting to note that 184 of the gifts are birds.

Six geese a-laying, according to the 2013 PNC Christmas index, will cost you $35 each, for a total of $210 in all.

Christmas Quote:  "My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?" < Bob Hope, Comedian/Entertainer, 1903-2003 > 

12 Days of Christmas - Day 5

Love Rings

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

Day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas is all about those Five Golden Rings. And though you won't exactly be able to wear these rings around your finger, you could create an incredibly beautiful quilt with them. Love Rings by Darlene Zimmerman is a great gift ideas for yourself or that quilter in your life!

12 Days of Christmas Fun Fact:  In the 16th century, European and Scandinavian cultures combined the Twelve Days of Christmas with other festivals celebrating the changing of the year. These festivals were usually associated with driving away evil spirits for the start of the New Year. It was during this time frame that the song itself is believed to have originated.

Five gold rings can set your budget back quite a bit. If you purchase a plain band at $150.00, you'll be out $750.00 overall. If you're totaling up all of the items from the song so far, everything through the fifth day will cost you $1,759.95.

Christmas Quote:  "The only real blind person at Christmastime is he who has not Christmas in his heart." < Helen Keller, Deafblind American Author, 1880-1968 >

12 Days of Christmas - Day 4

Dishtowel of the Month Club

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

Day 4 of the 12 Days of Christmas is about Four Colly Birds; however, you could embroider or applique the birds included in our Old-Fashioned Dishtowel of the Month Club instead! And you have to admit, these dishtowels are absolutely adorable! Whether you choose to keep them for yourself or use them as fun gifts, you'll love the diversity of patterns and fabric that this club provides. Inspired by vintage dishtowels from the 1930s and 40s, these tea towels are practical as well as decorative. Each month during this 12 month club, you will receive the supplies you need to create a hand-embroidered dishtowel, including the fabric, rick rack, embroidery floss, pattern and pre-washed, bleached, 100% cotton dishtowel. To join the club, click here.

12 Days of Christmas Fun Fact:  We bet you have been singing the words to the Twelve Days of Christmas as we have been going along with the Days in our blog. On the fourth day, most people have usually learned to sing the verse 'Four Calling Birds' But did you know that in one of the earliest written versions of the song, that particuilar verse is actually 'Four Colly Birds?'

Back in 1780, when one of the first recorded versions of the song had been written down, a 'colly' bird (or 'colle') was a blackbird. Presumably, the word 'colly' is an old form of the word coal, which meant the colly birds from the fourth day were black as coal. It was very common for blackbirds to be used for pies back then. (Remember the old nursery rhyme, 'Sing-a-Song-of-Sixpence?' One of the verses of that rhyme references 'four and twenty blackbirds based in a pie.')

In any event, a single blackbird will cost you $129.99 per bird, making the total for four of them $519.96.

Christmas Quote:  "It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air." < W.T. Ellis, 1826 - 1913 >

12 Days of Christmas - Day 3

Chickens in Redwork

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas is supposed to be about Three French Hens. But since French Hens can be mighty difficult to find this time of year, we've substituted these adorable embroidered chickens instead. Chickens in Redwork features Hank the Rooster and Mama Hen with her chicks, both popular patterns in the 1890s. They can be embroidered on tea towels or used as quilt blocks for a cute little wall quilt. Stitch them up in traditional red or any other color you desire. To order, click here.

12 Days of Christmas Fun Fact:  If you are keeping track of expenses, at $55 per bird, the Three French Hens are going to cost your true love $165. Making the total cost in 2013 dollars for day three (one partridge, two doves, and the three hens) $489.99.

Christmas Quote:  "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year." < Charles Dickens, English Author, 1812-1870 >

12 Days of Christmas - Day 2

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

 If you're looking for Turtle Doves to celebrate Day Two of the Twelve Days of Christmas, Folkhearts and Flowers  by Calico Hills Farm is delightful. Designed by Roxy Burgard, the pattern features doves, tulips and hearts. Whether you or your gift recipient chooses to create it in contemporary colors, or the traditional styles of an earlier era, this wall quilt is a timeless classic for sentimental occasions. You can make it using traditional applique methods or try fusible web with buttonhole stitch by machine. To order, click here.

12 Days of Christmas Fun Fact:  According to the 2013 PNC Christmas Price Index, one partridge in a pear tree costs $199.99. Two Turtle Doves cost $125 ($62.50 per bird). The total cost for both days of gifts would be $324.99.

Christmas Quote:  "Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful." < Norman Vincent Peale, 1898-1993 >

12 Days of Christmas - Day 1

Seasons Remembered 

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas at Grandma's Attic! Every day from now until Christmas we will feature a different item from our quilt shop. You'll want to check the posts each day from now through the 24th to see what Grandma has for you this holiday season!

Seasons Remembered. This beautiful quilt pattern, in the  traditional red and green colors of the 1840s-1860s, will have you humming along to your favorite holiday tunes.

Designed by Jane Davis, Seasons Remembered features the fine buttonhole stitch applique that 19th Century women used to showcase their needle skills. There are 12 stunning, traditional applique designs (suitable for 18" blocks) in this spectacular series of patterns, plus a stunning leaf border adapted from a beautiful Civil War era quilt. Full-sized patterns, plus instructions for both traditional and fusible applique are included. To order as a book, click here. To order as a block of the month program, click here.

12 Days of Christmas Fun Fact:  The song "The 12 Days of Christmas" is believed to have originated in the 16th century in European and Scandinavian culture; however, the song itself first showed up in English form in a children's book titled Mirth without Mischief in 1780 A.D.

Christmas Quote:  Christmas gift suggestions:  To your enemy, forgiveness; to an opponent tolerance; to a friend, you heart; to a customer, service; to all, charity; to every child, a good example; to yourself, respect." < Oren Arnold, Novelist and Journalist, 1900-1980 >

Cookie Time At Grandma's! - Day 5

Every year at Christmas, my grandmother made Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls. She'd divide them up and then send them home with various family members. It was a ritual we all looked forward to, and dearly missed after she passed in 1998.

A few days ago, a package arrived in the mail from daughter Dannielle. Opening the box, there were several little bags of peanut butter balls! Believe me, they taste EXACTLY like the ones my grandmother used to make. Then it dawned on me that she had taught Dannielle how to cook.

I don't know the exact recipe that Grandmother and Dannielle used, but I found a fun recipe in Christmas Cookie Jar by Gooseberry Patch that I think you will enjoy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

1/2 cup butter
18 ounce jar creamy peanut butter
16 ounce package powdered sugar
3-1/2 cup crispy rice cereal
18 ounce package milk chocolate bar, chopped

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Blend in peanut butter. Stir in powdered sugar and cereal. Form into one-inch balls and place on wax paper. Melt chocolate on top of double boiler. Dip balls in chocolate to coat. Arrange on baking sheets to cool and set.

Makes about 5 dozen.

Cookie Time At Grandma's! - Day 4

Our extended family doesn't get together as often as we should, yet we always find time to celebrate Christmas together either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. We each bring a dish to share. Dad and sister Dannielle can be found in the kitchen baking up delicious Christmas treats.

In years past, we've toyed with the idea of making a gingerbread house. Some years we've made the pieces by hand. Other years, frankly, we "cheated" and bought a kit at the local grocery store. What we've basically decided is that making gingerbread cookies is the safest way to go. They're just as fun to decorate, and there are no catastrophic roof cave-ins to contend with. The recipe we use for Gingerbread cookies was given to me by my friend Mary Ross. It's exactly like the one my grandmother used to make:


Mary's Gingerbread Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup light and dark molasses
2-1/4 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in butter and molasses. Sift together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Chill dough for two hours. Roll out 1/3 inch thick on lightly floured board.

Cut out shapes using a six inch cookie cutter. Draw dress details with toothpick and decorate with currants, red hots, or the candies of your choice. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F. Makes approximately 15.

Alternatively, the dough may be rolled thin (1/4") and cut with standard sized cookie cutters. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees F. Makes 5 dozen.

Cookie Time At Grandma's! - Day 3

Unforgettable is one of my favorite little cookbooks. Combining American history with favorite recipes from the decades of the 20th Century, this book is packed with interesting information and mouth-watering recipes. It details how cocktail parties emerged for the first time during Prohibition. Meatloaf, chili and casseroles helped stretch food budgets in the 1930s, and food using vegetables from Victory Gardens sprung up in the 1940s.

Tucked in and among the recipes for Eggs Benedict, Meatless Meatloaf and Tuna Noodle Casserole, Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallow topping, Zucchini Bread and Quiche Lorraine, there is only one cookie recipe. Toll House Cookies are definitely a cookie you'll want to include in your holiday baking.

According to the book, Ruth Wakefield of Whitman, Massachusetts created the recipe in 1933. She thought she could save time by adding in bits of semi-sweet chocolate to her cookie batter but they didn't melt as she had hoped. She named them after the Toll House Inn she and her husband owned. The Nestle Corporation, which began selling chocolate chips in 1939, purchased the rights to the Toll House name. The rest, as they say, is history.

Did you know that chocolate chip cookies account for more than half of all the cookies baked in the United States? I know I've sure baked a lot of them. Haven't you?

Toll House Cookies

2-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine,
softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 package (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine flour, soda and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture, mixing just until combined. By hand, stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees F for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Cookie Time At Grandma's! - Day 2

Does your family or friends have the tradition of swapping cookies at the holidays? The way it works is that each person bakes enough cookies to share a dozen or so with other participants. You bake the cookies; then get together to swap them out for others. That way, you have a bigger selection of cookies for holiday get-togethers.

Today's recipe is from The Great Christmas Cookie Swap Cookbook. By the folks at Good Housekeeping, this little book has contains 60 large-batch recipes to bake and share with others. Recipes include Lemon Cranberry Shortbread, Raspberry Linzer Thumbprints, Chocolate Crinkles and Coconut Macaroons, just to name a few. Like our other featured cookbooks, it is available at Grandma's Attic.

The Great Christmas Cookie Swap Cookbook is a small hard cover book with inside spiral bind for ease of page turning. As an added bonus, it also includes tips for hosting a swap and festive blank cards for sharing recipes.

Classic Sugar Cookies

6 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups butter (4 sticks), softened
3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until blended. In separate large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and sugar until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low; beat in eggs and vanilla until mixed, then beat in flour mixture just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.

Divide dough in half, then divided each half into 4 equal pieces; flatten each into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll 1 piece of dough until slightly less than 1/4 inch thick; keep remaining dough refrigerated. With floured 3- to 4-inch cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible; reserve trimmings. Place cookies 1 inch apart, on two ungreased large cookie sheets.

Bake until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. With wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings.

Cookie Time at Grandma's!

This is the time of year when the smell of freshly baked cookies wafts out of the kitchen straight into our hearts. It's cookie time at Grandma's!

If you like baking cookies, you will love the recipes we'll share from now until December 25th, each one from a different book available at Grandma's Attic. Today's cookie recipe comes from Christmas Cookies by Gooseberry Patch. This fun book contains cookie after cookie after cookie. There are quick-to-fix recipes like the one below that start with store-bought mixes, and others that you make from scratch. Recipes for candy and mixes are also included.

Since I couldn't decide which recipe I wanted to use, I had Melissa close her eyes, and randomly open up the book. Super Simple Snickerdoodles is the recipe that she landed on. Outlined below, it sounds totally yummy!. To order the book, just click on this Christmas Cookies link.

Super Simple Snickerdoodles

18-1/2 ounce package Yellow Cake Mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
Garnish: cinnamon-sugar

Combine cake mix, eggs, oil and cinnamon in a large bowl; mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Let cool for two minutes on baking sheets; transfer to wire racks to finishing cooling.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.