Success At Last!

Oh my gosh! What a HUGE success story THIS is! I can hardly contain myself.

As a child, I remember the holiday spread that my dad's mother, Mary (HODICK) McHUGH would put out. Not just the Christmas Eve dinner, but the cookies and the candies (remember ribbon candy?) and just about anything you could ever dream of putting into your mouth! Alas, I was more of a tomboy when I was a kid, hence, neither grandmothers nor mother could get me into the kitchen to learn how to do the things that they did. To this day, if I have any regrets, it is that I did not partake in culinary endeavors with my elders when I had the chance.

Well, to follow up last year's GeneaBlogger Cookbook, Thomas MacEntee put together a version for 2009 with a focus on Holiday Treats. It can be found HERE. I didn't have an entry for this year, since I really didn't have anything to contribute to a holiday-themed cookbook. But I DID have use for the recipes found within the pages of this year's edition! We're having a cookie exchange at work tomorrow, an event which terrifies me given my lack of baking ability. I once tried a simple sugar cookie and it was disastrous!

So I spent the afternood baking. Yes, you heard me, baking. I used one cookie recipe from a Taste of Home recipe magazine (I love that magazine!), and I must say it was quite easy!
I've seen these coookies called many things, but this book called them "Nutty Orange Snowballs". I usually see them called Sandies, and they are a Christmas favorite of mine. This year, for the first time since Grandma (HODICK) McHUGH died in 1976, I get homemade Sandies!

Then I tried a cookie recipe from the GeneaBlogger Winter 2009 Cookbook desccribed above. I chose Lynn Palermo's (The Armchair Genealogist) recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. It was shocking enough to have ONE cookie come out right, but to have TWO in ONE DAY? It is nothing short of a Miracle! I truly felt my Grandmas' presence today!

So, Lynn, do they look right? They sure taste good!