Thursday, December 13, 2012

Snickerdoodles in the Air

When we lived in the Midwest, some friends of ours had two little girls.

They were hardcore girly-girls, and loved the things that girly-girls seem to gravitate towards:  twirly dresses, tutus, Hanna Andersson and above all, glitter.

I saw the father on a regular basis, and for at least two straight years, I never saw him without glitter on his face.

I would be in the speaking to him and my eyes would wander to the piece of glitter stuck on his eyelid or nose,  which had temporarily caught the sun and had momentarily blinded me.  

It was endearing.  

I say this all because Maggie is now a glitter-phile.

I find  glitter glue that some schmuck bought her ~ not me ~ on tables, cabinets, in her hair.

She is mesmerized by  this loose glitter that I bought three years ago, for some craft project.

(And never used.  Crafts?  Me?  I MUST have been on crack.)  

It is pourable, and one of these days, I am certain  it will be dumped somewhere that I will be finding it for years to come.


And I said all of that above because it is Christmas time.

And there is glitter everywhere.  It is in every project that Maggie brings home from pre-school, on nearly every ornament.  

I open each Christmas card gingerly, lest a cascade of some glittery substance that some turd thought would be festive, falls out all over my floor and forces me to get the vacuum (it has happened).

I'm basically a Scrooge.

I don't like opening presents in front of people.  I let others put up the tree and put on the ornaments.   I have ONE Christmas candy recipe that I have managed not to lose, and I use it every year.

But today was different.

It has been raining and cold here in Florida for the past three days.  

(Okay, all right, not COLD.  I used to hate assholes in Florida who said that when I lived in the Midwest.  It is "chilly.")

And since it usually is sunny here, I welcome the not-normal days where it is a little gloomy.   It feels like winter in a place that always seems to feel like summer.

Which is great, mostly, but sometimes it is just nice for a change.

I was driving in the fog and gloom today and suddenly the urge came over me to make cookies.

I used to make cookies.  At least more often than I do now (which is NEVER).  

I have literally not made cookies for over four years.  (::As a mother, hangs head in shame.  But for only one short moment.  I'm fine now::)  

I have mostly bought those pre-packaged little squares that you just tear off and bake.  Which I think are disgusting and  don't taste like "real" cookies.    

I have not felt like making much of anything in the way of dessert, so my 11-year-old son learned how to make cakes and cookies.

Which I think is fantastic.  My laziness bred resiliency and innovation in my son.  I couldn't be prouder.

 I had snickerdoodle ingredients at home:  butter, flour, sugar, cinnamon, etc.

So Maggie and I set to making snickerdoodles.  When Chris came home from lunch,  he was startled and wondered what the catch was.    He was unsure if he should eat one or not.  (I assured him that it was all right.)

I guess it goes without saying that I am medicated again.  

I feel a little more like me, which is so weird.   Only those who are as crazy as f**k will probably understand this.

The person I was off of medication was like this psycho shrew who lived in my house, slept in my bed, and didn't clean very often.  I hardly knew her.

Oh well.

I feel much more able to deal with glitter now:  vacuuming it up, washing it off,  peeling it off of furniture.

And I haven't felt like writing anything in a long time.  So, hellloooooo.

(And for those who like Snickerdoodles, here is a great recipe.)

Best-Ever Snickerdoodles

3 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking SODA
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
2 large eggs
2.5 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease baking sheets.

In a large bowl, mix first 5 ingredients well.  Set aside.

In another bowl, add next 5 ingredients, except for the eggs.  Beat well, like 2 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, then slowly add the flour mixture.

The dough will be thick and you will roll it into balls.  Try to make them the same size, then roll them in the sugar/cinnamon mixture and put on a cookie sheet.

Bake in the oven for 11-12 minutes.

You can't put these close together because they spread out a lot.  I learned that the hard way.

These aren't the crispy snickerdoodles; the corn syrup makes them chewy.

Hope you have a great holiday season