Christmas Cookie Saturday By Jorj Morgan Click here for holiday gift ideas At our house, during the holidays, we have a favorite tradition - Christmas Cookie Saturday. This day is to baking cookies what the triathlon event is to the Olympics! Kids, neighbors, relatives and co-workers all chip in to make dozens of holiday cookies. Together we package them for gifts, or save them to serve on festive party platters. And of course, we make a few special treats to serve with cold milk for you-know-who on Christmas Eve. We invite you to share our family tradition or create one of your own. New Traditions Start by making a list of the various cookies that you want to make. Now is the time to bring out all of your heirloom recipes. Put aside as much of the day as you can and devote the time to sharing family stories. Perhaps you want to include Grandma or your best baking sister to join in the fun. Little ones will participate in shifts, but I guarantee they will all come to attention when it's time for the taste test! Let the Fun Begin Before the big baking day, decide which dough can be made ahead and chilled so that it is ready to bake when you are. Sugar cookie dough can be made several days in advance, wrapped and chilled. On Saturday morning, roll out the sugar cookie dough and cut out shapes using holiday cookie cutters. Bake the cookies, cool and provide all of the frosting, colored sugars and silver dragees that are needed to decorate. Place the cookies in the center and station the kids around the table. Allow for some ingenious food art and reserve judgment! The idea for this day is fun - not perfection. Feel free to use our favorite in-house rule - if the snowflake cookie crumbles - be sure to eat it up!! Cookie press dough is also easily made in advance. Load the cookie press; affix your favorite cutting blade, pump and go. Little hands can sprinkle the colorful sugar on top. Bake and cool for hundreds of bite sized treats. The Good Stuff When the children's attention wanes, you can fill in the gaps with your favorite recipes like thumbprint cookies, shortbread sticks dipped in chocolate, coconut drops, or date pinwheels. Grab a cup of coffee or sip a mug of piping hot tea in between each new recipe. Have plenty of containers ready to store the cookies. If you are baking early in the season, you may want to freeze some of each cookie variety for later use as gifts or on party cookie trays. "I Only Have an Hour - Not a Day!" No problem, make the best of the hour that you have by planning a little further in advance. For long-term storage, you may want to freeze the dough instead of refrigerating. You can freeze icebox cookies in a log shape. When ready to bake, partially thaw and slice into pieces. For ball shaped cookies like Russian tea cakes it is better to freeze the dough in the ball shapes, then defrost, roll in sugar and bake. Cookie dough will keep in the freezer for about a month. If time is limited, make one type of cookie dough, freeze and store. Several days later, make a different variety of cookie dough. When Christmas Cookie Saturday rolls around, you will have plenty of prepared cookies that are just waiting for you to bake. Join in our BlueSuitMom.com Cookie Exchange. Send your favorite holiday cookie recipe and we will post it for other BlueSuitMoms to share. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Holiday Cookie Recipes: • Thumbprint Cookies • Candy Cane Cookies • Basic Sugar Cookies • Jorj's Double Chocolate Chip Cookies • More holiday cookies Jorj Morgan is the Lifestyle Director of BlueSuitMom.com and the author of "At Home In The Kitchen," a cookbook due in spring 2001.