Grandma's Christmas Cookies

As kids, my brothers, my sister & I were no different from most other kids--we thought Christmas was just magical! On Christmas Eve. we'd wait for my dad to get home, then we'd go to his mom & dad's house--all my aunts, uncles & cousins would be there too. We'd have dinner, then cookies, then open gifts, & then we'd leave & go to my mom's parents & repeat the whole thing! It was wonderful! My dad's mom loved to bake, & she went all out at Christmas--every year she'd make pecan fingers, thumbprint cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate kisses, chocolate cake, brownies, & our personal favorite--her cut-out cookies! They were fabulous, & didn't taste like any other cookie ever made! She'd keep them in big tins that she'd set on the stairs up into the attic to keep them cold. The minute we'd eaten a sandwich, my cousins, my brothers, my sister & I would all run for the cookies. Now of course they all tasted the same; however, the reindeer were the "primo" ones... The "holy grail" of cookies...no doubt because she never made as many in the reindeer shape, as apparently the legs & or antlers would break off. In order of desirability, the reindeer was followed by the horse, then the lion, then the chicken, the rabbit, the santa, the christmas tree, the dog, & lastly, the bell!! No one wanted the bells--there were more bells than any other shape, so, I guess in typical "consumer" fashion, we wanted the ones that were harder to get! I think I was in high school the first time I asked my grandma if I could come watch her make them, as I wanted to try making them myself. It was difficult, as she didn't really have measurements--you just added the ingredients "until it looked right". ....my cookies were awful! The next time I watched her I was in college; I faithfully wrote down the ingredients, but my cookies were terrible--nothing like hers! The last time she made them she was 91 years old, & appologized to all of us that "I didn't make as many cookies as usual--I'm slowing down a bit". She died the next spring at 92 y.o. My mom & dad asked me if there was anything I'd like of grandma's, & I asked for her cookie cutters. That next Christmas, when I tried to make her cookies, they turned out perfectly, & tasted exactly like hers! My friend told me my cookies hadn't turned out before because it hadn't been my place to make them--it had been for my Grandma to do, but now that she was gone, it was mine. I've made them every year since, & I like to think that Grandma is there overseeing the baking! And when I take them with me on Christmas Day to our family celebration, we'll all laugh as not only my brothers & sister, but our husbands, wives, children & grandchildren all rush the plate, looking for the reindeer. :)