Cookie Decorating

My grandchildren came yesterday and decorated all my Christmas Cookies.  This pre-Christmas event continues what my Mom and Grandma Kopczynski started over 50 years ago.  It usually took them all day to bake and decorate both white and ginger cookies.  I still use Grandma's sugar cookie recipe which includes sour cream that seems to keep them soft.  These three kids got creative with the colors and took a lot of time to sprinkle the colored sugars on.

 When we finished decorating we made plates to take to the shut-ins whose names were on a tree at St. Stan's.  Karen's shut-in lives in a local Memory Care Unit.  She used to live in our neighborhood in the Clarkston Heights.  She asked us to come back and visit, "because I'm all alone now."  It would be nice if we visited more than once a year to these sweet people who feel so isolated and alone now.

I like to get an annual picture with each one of my grandkids as a way to see how much they change from year to year.  I appreciate the time it takes to get the camera set up and then sit with grandma while Duane and Karen take the pictures.  

Anne, Bradleigh and I tried to decorate some cake pops and pretzel rods, but we didn't have much luck with the melted chocolate.  I tried it again today and melted the chocolate in a water glass, which made it a lot easier for dipping.  I learned it just takes a lot of patience!  But, success at last!

Standing ready to take to the Esser's on Sunday!