Christmas cookie outreach

#1

Yes. I know that it’s 97 degrees outside,along with being miserably humid. So this is an excellent time to bring up an outreach idea.

(think of this like Hallmark Channel flick,but with jackboots)

Decorating Christmas cookies with colored icing is an ancient and honored custom if you’re of German ancestry. It was an annual ritual in the Texas Hill Country when I was a kid,and the tradition hasn’t totally died out.

This last year,when the clan was all clubbed up to decorate cookies,I had a brainstorm. I grabbed some extra cookies,some spare colored icing,and some other odds and ends.

I then took all of this to a local nursing home,dumped it in the day room,and told the residents to have at it. And was amazed at how those little old ladies swarmed those cookies and did great jobs decorating them.

So I plan on doing it again this year. The cash outlay is minimal,the cooking skill level is minimal,and the sheer amount of enjoyment some old folks (Our old folks!) got out if it makes this a worthwhile way to spend a weekend afternoon.

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#2

Try to get a local supermarket to donate the supplies, then get a photo-journalist from the local newspaper to cover the event & mention the sponsoring supermarket. Make sure to say something about how you’re doing this because we’re ‘losing our traditions’ etc. This could really be big at a local level.

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#3

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#4

I might. The thing about Christmas cookies is that-while they’re certainly edible-they aren’t exactly meant to be eaten. The things are intended to get hung on trees,used as decorations,etc. In fact,if you stick them in the freezer,they keep for a year or two. (no kidding)

So a commercially produced cookie prolly would work,it wouldn’t be quite the same. I think the best bet would be hitting up the store for the raw materials-which are really cheap,being flour,eggs,shortening,a little powdered sugar,and some food coloring.

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#5

We need to stop abandoning decent old white people in nursing homes, where they are at the mercy of abusive, theiving Negroes and Mexicans. My family traditionally kept its oldest relatives safe at home, where they lived to a great age and never went senile.

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#6

I completely agree. And for those who were unfortunate enough to get dumped in one,an evening spent doing some baking and an afternoon spent on a quick delivery isn’t anything I’d call a waste.