By December and the hospital has begun vaccinating staff. I got mine on Tuesday—the Pfizer, first dose—and felt the particular relief of someone who has spent nine months in N95 masks and isolation protocols and who now has a date circled: twenty-one days until the second shot, and then the protection begins to build. I sat in the observation chair for fifteen minutes after the injection and thought about March. About the floor in March. About what changed and what didn't change back. The vaccine doesn't undo the year. But it changes the forward direction.
I told Liam I got a medicine shot that would help me stay healthy. He said "does it hurt?" I said a little, at first. He said "I'm sorry, Mama." He said "did you cry?" I said no. He seemed skeptical. He cries at shots. He's two and a half and he has not made peace with the needle-medicine arrangement and I'm not rushing him. He'll get there.
Christmas cookies this weekend—the first serious baking session of December. Liam at the table with his rolling pin, decorating with frosting colors he selected by pointing at them. The kitchen warm and sugary and Nora in the high chair with her own small piece of plain sugar cookie, eating it with the focused assessment of a ten-month-old for whom all foods are still new and interesting.
My grandmother's shortbread with the orange zest. The smell of Christmas. We are a family in December and this is our apartment and these are our children and the year, which has been so many things, is ending in a kitchen that smells like butter and orange.
The shortbread was my grandmother’s, and it always will be—but with Liam wielding his small rolling pin and Nora watching from her high chair, I wanted something the kids could really get their hands into alongside the baking. These Acorn Treats have become our December tradition precisely because they require small fingers and zero patience for oven timers: dipped in chocolate, decorated with whatever sprinkles Liam points at, and finished just in time for someone to eat three before dinner. The kitchen smells like butter and sugar and the year ending well.
Acorn Treats
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 30 min + chilling | Servings: 24 treats
Ingredients
- 24 vanilla wafer cookies
- 24 Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or shortening
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or sprinkles, for rolling
- 24 pretzel sticks, broken in half (for stems)
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate. Combine chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until fully melted and smooth, about 60–90 seconds total.
- Dip the cookies. Using a fork or toothpick, dip each vanilla wafer into the melted chocolate, letting the excess drip off. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Roll in toppings. While the chocolate is still wet, roll or press each dipped cookie in chopped pecans or sprinkles to coat the sides, leaving the top exposed.
- Attach the Kiss. Press one unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss, point-side up, onto the flat (undipped) top of each cookie. Press gently so it adheres.
- Add the stem. Push a pretzel stick half into the chocolate on the side of each cookie near the base of the Kiss to form an acorn stem.
- Chill to set. Refrigerate the assembled acorn treats for at least 20 minutes, until the chocolate is fully set. Store in a covered container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 95 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 12g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 45mg