December 13 & 14 – Serving Others :)
We had a consensus that our neighbor/friend gifts would include the kids’ manna packs. Sister Save-A-Lot thought that a bit impersonal, so she insisted on including some type of “sweet” for the sweets. Though velied in thoughtfulness, I’m fairly certain that the benevolence was 100% based upon her love for

the seasonal Hershey peppermint Kiss.

Couple these with

Utz HOliday Pretzel Shapes and you have her favorite neighbor gift.

We line a cookie sheet with pretzels topped with Kisses.

Then heat them at 200 degrees just until they start to melt.

Next step, a little cooling action in our surprisingly bare frig.

I haven’t been to the store in a while.

I guess I’m pretending like I’m living my glory days…

the single ones where I never cooked!

After they cool completely,

we filled Dollar Tree holiday cellophane bags.

(Loving the “Tree”!)

and put them by our Dollar Tree bag on which we adhered a sticker explaining our gift.

Sister Save-A-Lot wanted to real bake cookies, too. After much discussion, we all agreed on the safe sugar cookie topped with festive, always fun, sprinkles. I went to my recipe binder and found “Margaret’s Sugar Cookies”.

Y’all remember Margaret?? She’s the inspiration behind our Table Talks. (Table Talk) … and oh, how I love her cookies!! When I was in high school, my folks and I decided that I’d leave Wichita Falls and attend an all-girl prep school in Dallas. Since I boarded, my mom was not there to do my laundry (yeah, I’m one of those!). Instead of doing it myself in the washer and drier on the hall, I would head a few blocks away to my grandparents home each week. And (you guessed it), she would wash my clothes. On Sunday afternoon, I’d return to get my clothes and have a nice chat at her kitchen table.

Each and every week as I left, she would kiss me and stand at the end of the driveway with my grandfather waving good-bye as I drove away. Next to me sat a basket of neatly folded garments topped with a Foldgers coffee can filled to the brim with my very favorite, fresh-baked sugar cookie … Margaret’s cookies. Inevitably I would reach to the passenger seat and pop the lid off that can. “Just one,” I’d justify. Before I knew it, I’d find myself driving into the school grounds with at least 3/4 of the cookies gone. They melt in your mouth.  Soooooo yummy.

Rarely do my attempts at her creation reach the perfection she attained every single time, but here’s the recipe for your own pleasure. I must warn you… they’re a bit addicting.

Margaret’s Sugar Cookies


Cream: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup softened butter

(oh yeah, did I say butter?!)

Add: 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla

Add: 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp Cream of Tarter, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt

Drop on cooke sheet by a teaspoon. Press in center. Put sugar in indentation. Bake at 400 degrees about 10 minutes.

(I substitute 1 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda for the Cream of Tartar… maybe that’s why my cookies
don’t turn out quite like her’s… I guess I’d have to go to the grocery store to solve that problem … naaah!)

We tried cooking them 2 different ways.

1) regular cookie style

2) muffin style

… a terrific idea on chocolate chip cookies and brownies.

But not these sugar cookies.

Oh… what a shame!

I guess we’ll just have to eat them.

Everyone preferred the traditional style.

Ooops … we accidentally overcooked these a bit.

I guess I’ll have to eat them.

I tell you, a servant’s duty never ends!

So, we took our little manna bags. Put two in our gift sack. Added our sweet treat for the neighbor/friend.

Then tied it all with a big bow.

As we were cleaning up our big kitchen mess, a voice floated through the air from the dining room,

“I need help.” It was Jack.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” my usual reply.

“I need help NOW. IT’S HEAVY.”

“What are you doing?” I yell back.

“THE CHAIR IS HEAVY.”

Sure enough, one of the dining room table chairs was precariously leaning on him. The next obvious question: What in the world would a Future Hoarder of America be doing while his family is cleaning after putting together gifts?

… why quietly stashing the sacks under the table, of course.

If only I was making this up!

Thanks for walking the road with me.

-Kay

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