Twas the day after Thanksgiving Christmas approaching fast

Last weekend, we experimented with some new cookie technology -- marking pens with food coloring.  We needed a cookie that had a smooth surface.  My sister remembered a sugar cookie recipe she had.  She also had a recipe for a glaze that hardened nicely, was smooth and shiny (great for the markers!), and durable (hard but not tooth-shattering).  The glaze also drizzled well for decorating.  (See recipes below.)

  A single batch of Grammy Peg's Christmas Cookies -- make sure you've got lots of help! These cookies are an important part of our family holiday celebration.  It was a sign that you were growing up when my grandmother asked you to stop at her house after school to help make Christmas cookies.  As far as I've been able to learn, this recipe dates back to at least the late 1800's and is probably from Bavaria, Germany. 

While most people were preparing for Halloween last week, an assortment of women from three generations of our family got together for a very important annual task -- we produced the first batch of Christmas cookies. We converged at my sister's place in Benezette, PA.  My mom and niece traveled the 20 miles from St. Marys, and my sister from Ohio brought me from my home in Williamsburg.  The weather cooperated by sprinkling a few snowflakes to help set the mood, and our attention to colored sugars and jimmies was occasionally distracted by an elk wandering past a window.