Annual Baking Day!

Each year around Christmas we do a baking day with my Mom and Grandma and whip up all sorts of goodies! This is pretty much the only time of year that my hands see any sort of baking as I usually take short cuts and buy pre-made cookie dough or items from the bakery. I do, however, come from a long line of bakers, so it feels special to have my children learn the ropes from the more experienced ones. I also couldn’t wait for our Ghana girls to get in on the action this year and experience the joy of having fun family traditions. Here are some snapshots of our day!

The kids love to have the job of dropping in the m&m’s! Jennifer with my Grandma, now her Great-Grandma!

 

Justice and JJ were a team...Justice dolloped...

 

....and JJ dropped.

 

A little while later….lookin’ good ladies...

 

Almost there boys!

 

Peanut butter cookies – these are the ones that you put a Brach’s chocolate star on top – MY FAVORITE cookies! Yummo! Jasara loves, loves, loves to keep busy with items in her hands – she has been this way since we met her in Ghana. She enjoyed the job of covering the dough balls in sugar!

 

Of course, the kids’ favorite is getting to do the cut out cookies. We usually start these in the middle of the day once we are all warmed up and in game mode!

 

 

Jayla's tray of creations!

The sprinkle queens!

 

My cut-out cookie pictures of JJ were taken on my phone and won't upload for some reason, but he enjoys this part too!  Every year he makes a giant candy cane cutout. :) 

At one point we were all busy doing something and all of a sudden we looked over and Jasara had climbed up in the chair, grabbed a hunk of dough, the rolling pin, and a cookie cutter and was ready to make a cookie all by herself! She started trying to roll out the dough as she had been observing my mom doing, so my Mom gave her a quick lesson!

 

Like this, gramma?

 

 

Jasara worked with her dough for a looooooong time – probably at least 25 minutes straight. After she got it just how she wanted it, on came the sprinkles for the finishing touch!

 

Jasara's African cookie!