Thanksgiving Desserts -- The Cookies We Made While the Tree Was Still Crooked

The advent calendar went up Thursday, December 1. Liam opened the first drawer with the focus of a surgeon, as he did last year, and said "a Santa" and ate the small chocolate Santa with satisfaction. Nora is three months from three, and this year she understood the advent calendar. She wanted to open Thursday's door too. I had a backup plan — I had a second small calendar stashed, from the pharmacy, a cardboard one with chocolates — and I handed it to her and said "Nora, this is your calendar." She accepted it. She opened her own door. The system is functional. I will have to maintain two advent calendars for the rest of my life and I am accepting it.

The tree went up Saturday. Smaller than usual — a six-foot instead of the seven-foot we had last year — because the house has a lower ceiling in the living room than the apartment did. Sean sat on the couch and directed from a distance. Liam and I carried the tree in from the porch. Liam held a branch with one finger like the professional he is. I did most of the actual carrying. Sean stood up for five minutes to help set the tree in the stand. He sat down. We put the lights on. We put the ornaments on. Nora got four ornaments low on the tree. Liam got eight. Sean got three, from the couch, on the nearest branches, which he placed with care.

The tree is decorated. It is not perfect. The ornaments are low-heavy because the kids did most of it. I love it.

Chemo cycle 1 started Wednesday. Sean takes the temozolomide at 9 PM on an empty stomach. First night — fine. Second night — mild nausea, manageable. Third night — rougher. Saturday morning he was drained. I made the ginger-rice porridge at 8 AM. He ate it. He kept it down. He slept until noon. He ate a grilled cheese at 2. He was himself by 5 PM, somewhat. The chemo cycle is five days on, twenty-three days off. We are into the pattern. I know the pattern. I have administered this pattern hundreds of times from the other side.

I made sugar cookies Sunday — the simple rolled ones with the thin icing — because Liam had been asking to do cookies. We cut out Christmas shapes. Liam made a reindeer that looked like a large triangle with legs. Nora made a circle that she insisted was a cat. We baked them. We iced them. She ate two. He ate four. Sean ate half of one. The cookies are on a plate on the counter. We will work through them this week.

Meghan came Saturday with Aidan. She drove down with him and spent six hours at our house and I did nothing during those six hours because Meghan told me to sit down and Meghan does not negotiate. She did the laundry. She took Nora for a long walk. She made me lunch. She sat with Sean for half an hour and they talked quietly about nothing and everything. She left at 5. She hugged me at the door and said "I will be here every Saturday you want me, Kate." I said "I want you every Saturday." She said "then I will be here every Saturday." The scheduling was that simple. My sister is a weapon of love.

The sugar cookies I made Sunday weren’t fancy — just the simple rolled ones with thin icing, the kind you can do with a three-year-old who insists her circle is a cat and a six-year-old whose reindeer is aggressively geometric. I wanted something we could all put our hands on, something that felt like Christmas and not like the week we were actually having. These are the cookies that ended up on the plate on the counter, and this is the recipe that got us there.

Holiday Sugar Cookies

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 35 min (plus 1 hour chill) | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp milk
• For the thin icing:
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3–4 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Food coloring, as desired
• Sprinkles, for decorating

Instructions

1. Mix dry ingredients. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and milk and beat until combined.
3. Form the dough. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. Divide in half, flatten into discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Roll and cut. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters — stars, trees, reindeer, circles that may or may not be cats.
6. Bake. Place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake 8–10 minutes, until edges are just barely golden. Do not overbake. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Make the icing. Whisk powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. It should be thin enough to spread easily but thick enough to hold color. Divide into small bowls and add food coloring as desired.
8. Decorate. Spread or drizzle icing over cooled cookies. Add sprinkles before the icing sets. Let dry fully before stacking — about 20 minutes.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 118 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 17g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 45mg