Cookies and Cousins

Pumpkin Pecan Cookies with Brown Sugar Butter Frosting These are always favorites for fall

Easy Peasy Macaroons dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles

White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

Well my parents annual Christmas party has come and gone and it was fantastic as usual.

I posted pictures of my parents house last year, you must stop and see their awesome backyard.

Last years cookie table featured 16 different kinds of cookies and I was determined to cut down this year.

My efforts were thwarted by special requests and more specifically my mother...

who declared half the cookies I was eliminating her "favorite".

This year she took on quite a few cookies herself and we ended up with

21 different types of homemade cookies.

23 if you take into consideration different flavor variations.

Here we have...

Lemon Bars Deluxe

Almond Window Cookies with Raspberry Jam or Apricot Jelly

I detest making window cookies so my mom did those this year.  It was awesome.

White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread, dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles

Cranberry Orange Chews

Spicy Gingerbread Snowflakes- Peanut loved these.  He's a weird kid.

My mom made them and I decorated them and I really love that system of doing things :)

Going clockwise in the collage and clockwise on the plate

Repeats of the window cookies and shortbread with 

Salted Butterscotch Shortbread Bars (one of my personal favorites)

Peanut Butter Kisses & Lemon Bars

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip & Pumpkin Whoopie pies made by my sister Sherri

I think she needs to get on here and share this recipe with you- I expect this every year.
Thanks Sherri- here we go with the recipe!

Cranberry Orange Chews, Sugar Cookies and Revel Bars (another crowd favorite)

Sugar Cookies, Peanut Butter Kisses and Cherry Winks

Someday I'll learn to decorate sugar cookies with fancy frosting.

The thing is I need them to be stackable and I feel like a whole sugar cookie covered with royal icing might break your teeth.  Thoughts?

That and the fact that I'm lazy.

I made my sister help me decorate these which just means painting them with corn syrup and dipping them in sprinkles.

My mom also buys danish butter cookies along with 

See's Candy because we just don't have enough sweets.

On the back side of the plate are Almond Orange Bites.

Not pictured (along with the rest of the party and all of the guests)

were Salted Caramel Southern Comfort Truffles,

Rum Balls,

Chocolate Gran Marnier Truffles

and 2 different kinds of my mom's fudge.

Am I missing some?  I can't remember.

Then people started showing up and I couldn't find my camera,

I spent several hours following kids from one room to another,

back and forth, all night long.

Most the time I was running after Peanut but occasionally it was someone else's child.

I almost missed this family shot but my mom let me know my camera was in the garage 

(of course, why wouldn't it be?)

and I was able to sneak it in.

This is at the very end of the night before all the kids got into their pjs.

Next year I vow to get pictures of everyone.

I have approximately 5 pictures of B, Peanut and I and 

almost none of both my parents with him.

I didn't even get a picture of him in his cute little argyle sweater.

I am so happy I got this shot!!

Afterwards all the cousins got cozy in their pajamas

and played around the Christmas tree.

Everyone had a great time and we can't wait until next years!