I’m a little obsessed with cookie cutters...ok, maybe more than a little. You can’t have too many as far as I’m concerned. My family, however, definitely does not understand this obsession so I’ve stopped talking about it! The shapes alone can inspire me to create something unique. I don’t see any harm in getting just one or two more, do you?

When Marie celebrated her 90th birthday, she had to have something elegant and delicious to mark the occasion. Her favorite color is mauve, so the cookies, of course, had to be mauve! And Marie is a truly great lady, so they also had to be elegant. Each of these wedge-shaped cookies says “You are special.” I am so fortunate to have this wonderful and wise woman as a friend. Her tastes leans toward something less sweet so the cookie itself is my buttery melt-in-your-mouth shortbread recipe. This is Marie’s favorite cookie.

Cookies can say a lot in just one bite. Each of these heart-shaped cookies says “I love you” ... “Be my Valentine” ... “You are special to me.” I am fortunate to have many people in my life that are important to me and every Valentine’s Day I go crazy making sure they know it. While decorating these pretty bites, I think of each one of my special people and can’t wait to let them know that they have a place in my heart, not only on February 14th, but every day of the year.

As a child, I was never very fond of gingerbread and when I started making Christmas cookies all those years ago, I didn’t give a thought to making gingerbread men — or women for that matter. Everything changed when I found out that my great nephew loved gingerbread! Who knew? So I set about finding the best recipe I could. Not having much experience with how they should taste, I just decided to experiment until I found one that I liked. And what do you know...I ended up liking gingerbread!

My mother loved angels and had many of them around the house. She treasured an alabaster pin of an angel carrying a child that her mother had given to her. One of her favorite Christmas songs was “Guardian Angels” sung by Mario Lanza and I must admit that when I’m missing her I listen to that song and feel warm and cozy. So it’s no wonder that when holiday baking starts, one of the first cutout cookies I make are angels in one form or another. Along with Santa and Christmas trees, these heavenly messengers speak clearly of the miracle of the season.