Cookies for the Holiday Party

It was decided that the office holiday party should be dessert themed and I, in my abundance of energy, volunteered to make cookies. Now this should be a surprise to nobody. I’m always baking and, being on the receiving end of excess treats, my colleagues can testify. 

As we brainstormed the party, it was decided that what we needed was sugar cookies and lots of them. We’d pick up frosting and sprinkles and have a cookie decorating party while also snacking on other sweet treats. It was my perfect event.

The night before the party, I closed my laptop, put on my apron, and set up the folding table that we use for overflow baked goods and special events. I pulled up my sugar cookie recipe and then remembered one of the special things about sugar cookies—the dough, ideally, needs time to sit in the fridge before baking. So that wasn’t great. 

Nevertheless, I got the cookie cutters I’d borrowed from a friend, pulled the flour out of the cupboard, and got to baking. Making a loaf of pumpkin bread for the office is very different from making enough cookies for an activity. (And yet, I made the pumpkin bread too?) Somehow, my brain calculated that I’d need about 160 cookies so everyone could take home many, many decorated cookies. (Reader, my office is not that big. Reader, we had so many extra.)

I took a picture with the trays of candy canes and snowflakes and sent it to my family and some friends with a laughing explanation of the shambles I’d created for myself. 

Following the party and the exodus that is people returning to their hometowns for the holidays, I found myself on the receiving end of funny memes and videos who knew about this escapade where the joke was essentially the person saying how “yes, yes I love cooking/baking!” and then having a complete meltdown in the next scene covered in kitchen chaos. 

They were all very funny but as I watched/read/listened, I realized that—even though it was a definitely a choice to bake 160 sugar cookies on a Monday night in December—it was a happy choice. 

Even in the most bakings of bakings, it was never totally stressful because I love the thing so much. And maybe we should all be so lucky to have a thing we love so much that even when we bite off more than we can chew, we don’t choke. 

What a privilege and a joy it is to be able to do the things we love.