Christmas cookies

Last night Hannah, Rebekah and I tackled making Christmas cookies. I don't particularly care for sugar cookies but I found a peanut butter and ginger cookie recipe from Hershey's Holiday Recipes. We had a ball making the dough and rolling it out and cutting out the shapes. The cookies didn't turn out that great. They had a good taste but, they stuck to the cookie pan horribly, though directions said not to grease the pan. I also believe that rolling the dough to only an 1/8th of an inch was too thin. The cookies were very crisp, though not burnt. I think this recipe is worth a do-over. I will probably reduce the amount of flour used, and of course, grease the pan. Anyway, the fun part came afterwards when we decorated the cookies. All rules went out the window. Partaking in one of these cookies promises the onset of a diabetic coma.

Christmas Markets

One of the most awesome things about Europe is the Christmas markets. Filled with candy, bratwurst, schokolade, Gluwein, Christmas ornaments, and other things distinctly European, it is a charming afternoon excursion. This year we have visited the Aachen and Maastricht Christmas Markets. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera at the Aachen Christmas market, which I believe is one of the prettiest. We still plan to visit the market in Valkenburg, which is housed in a cave that was used over 50 years ago to hide Jews from the Nazis. Koln pronounced (Cologne)also has a fabulous Christmas market but is so packed with people, it is a difficult venture with 3 little ones. My Christmas decor has expanded to include Kathe Wohlfahrt's incredible collection of wooden smokers and wooden ornaments. In my opinion, if you looked whimsical up in the dictionary, you would see her face there. Here are a couple of pictures we have taken to share our Christmas with you.