Christmas Sugar Cookies!

Last night, I got to eat some homemade Christmas sugar cookies for the first time since ... well, since this time last year.

When we were kids, Mom used to make these all the time - shaped like Christmas trees, ornaments, angels and Santas mostly, and there were even some oddly shaped ones that we kids used to create free form.

They were so good. Nice and crunchy, with a sugar frosting that simply melted in the mouth and performed delightful dances upon the tongue, without any thought about how our dental health was in peril. I mean, who cared?

My sister Karen had some at the family pot-luck buffet at her house last night. Good God, they were as wonderful as the ones I had when I was a child. See, nobody in my immediate family bakes, so poor me, my Christmas dessert plate and afternoon snack packages have been bereft of these for years, yea decades.

But not last night. Last night, I got to munch on some. Ahhhhh, pure bliss.

I don't get to act silly very often, so in preparation for last night, I eschewed the razor for a couple of weeks, and showed up with a little beard.

Trimmed a bit, of course, to tame the neck shag. I'm going to keep it going until after Christmas, so that when my grandson Joey comes to visit, he can have his picture taken with his silly uncle who thinks he's Santa Claus.

I also mounted a red Christmas tree ornament on my cap, just for fun. The wife thought I looked dipsy, and frankly, that's the look I was going for. The intention, of course, was to give those at the gathering something to point to, laugh at, and talk about. All I was doing was creating some small memories for people I truly care about.

The plan is to shave off my beard after (or maybe a day before) my grandson flies back to San Jose with his parents.

Now, I'm sure there are those among you who really don't care about Christmas sugar cookies, or a silly white-bearded guy wearing an ornament on top of his cap. So for you people, I offer a picture of the buffet table with its serving plattersful of yummy food - Hawaii style.

Enjoy your family dinners during this holiday season!