Last night, Little Butt and I watched The Polar Express together for the first time.
I know I have put the movie on for her before.
I think she's even owned it since last year.
But we have never gotten around to watching it.
Until last night.
I've been wanting to get into the holiday spirit lately. What better way than with cookies right?? No. That still wasn't working.
So I asked Little Butt if she would like to watch the movie with me.
Let me tell you...
Watching that movie with my 3 1/2 year old little girl was one of the most amazing and rewarding Christmas time experiences of my adulthood. Probably my life.
Seeing the magic of Christmas reflected in her eyes was truly remarkable.
Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives. Our work. The things that keep us 'busy' that we forget about the things that are genuinely important.
Things like family. Love. Acceptance.
Hearing the innocence in my daughters voice when she was excited about Santa was touching.
I felt alive again. I felt like a kid again.
During the movie, we laughed together, we cried together, we held each other through the scary parts.
But in the end...we both heard the bells.
If you have misplaced your Christmas spirit, I recommend that you watch this movie. Even if you don't have kiddos, watch it anyway. It will help you remember what it was to be full of joy, hope and belief.
And if that doesn't work. Take a bite of one of these cookies and that will help remind you of Christmas!
As a kid, my favorite cookies were snickerdoodles. When I found this recipe for a holiday twist on a childhood favorite last year, I knew they had to be included in my yearly cookie baking extravaganza.
Not that I really have an extravaganza. I've only made 2 types of cookies so far. Ha!
I did add a bit of rum to the recipe because I just love the stuff, but that can be omitted. You can simply stick with the rum extract on it's own.
Let's bake some cookies!
Grab your ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, vegetable shortening, butter, eggs, nutmeg, rum extract and spiced rum (optional).
Start by creaming together the butter, vegetable shortening and 1 1/2 cup sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs, extract and rum.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg until combined.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until well combined.
Mix the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons nutmeg in a small shallow bowl. Roll the cookie dough into 1 inch balls then roll through the sugar/nutmeg mixture. Make sure each cookie dough ball is well coated.
Place the cookie dough about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. I like to line mine with parchment paper because it reduces clean up.
Bake the cookies about 10 minutes or until they are a golden brown color. Allow to cool on the pan a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Serve and enjoy!!
I boxed mine up and gave them to our financial advisors office staff. I know they enjoyed them right then and there.
Enjoy!
Eggnog Snickerdoodles
Adapted from Taste of Home
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