The wind stopped howling and the snow came. It's only a little, but yesterday and this morning I woke up to a delicate white blanket outside my window. While I listened to Christmas music and made too many cookies, I kept my eyes on the small flakes falling outside my kitchen window.

I had a hard time deciding on which cookies I wanted to make. There were Leila Lindholm's hazelnut cookies I've made many times and are being featured on Jillian Leiboff's site, linzer cookies, walnut cookies and lots of others to choose from. I decided on Lemon Hearts, an old recipe out of one of my mother's oldest cookbooks. I hadn't made the cookies in a few years and they are pure Christmas for me. I can't eat them any other time. So they went on my list. Next, I wanted to make Linzer Cookies, just because I love them. The third batch was Coconut Macaroons and the fourth was a nod to my husband's Austrian heritage and one that I had never made before- Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescent cookies). I can't say which are the best, because they are all good.

The tree has been bought and is waiting outside, the menu is set for the holidays, and I'm looking forward to enjoying it thoroughly.

I wish all a Christmas filled with joy, laughter and love.

Merry Christmas / Frohe Weihnachten!