November...

November is one of my favorite months! It is my cute husband Jerry's birthday so that always means special cakes... It is also Thanksgiving so I like to start planning anything new I want to add to our thanksgiving dinner. It is also a quiet enough time that I like to start experimenting with new cookie recipes for the upcoming holidays.

Let's face it you can never have enough cookies in the freezer. Perfect gifts, and great for impromptu get togethers. And when I plan a very elaborate dinner party sometimes some rich buttery cookies out of my freezer are the perfect solution when I think I cannot cook or bake one more thing.

When you are making your cookies think of them as little gifts. In this case as you can see they really are gifts. A small holiday pin has been attached so the receiver has a double gift. These are also wonderful to bring out at a dinner party and as you pass the platter let your guests not only select a sweet but the pin of their choice.

I love coconut and the holidays are just one more reason for me to use it. These mini snow balls are actually mini cupcakes. After baking them ( I still use the papers because they just pop out of the pans so much better) I remove the papers and then cover them in butter cream frosting. And roll them in coconut to resemble snowballs. And then the added glitz of a snow flake or star pin. Easy and dramatic. And bite size. I think part of the appeal of cookies is their smallness...even big ones. Somehow when I have a slice of pie or cake I know I am done. But with cookies, well, they just encourage nibbling.

Often at a dinner party my guests will complain they have no room for dessert and I think sadly how long I labored over a cheesecake or layer cake. But if I set out a platter of cookies they just seem to disappear. And as my guests nibble they linger making the event even better. jJacqueline