Cookie Palooza(s)

Our apartment likes cookies.

As one of my roommates says, some people have 72-hour kits. We have 72-cookies kits. 

You'd be surprised by the amount of comfort and sanity a cookie can bring. 

The past few weeks before Christmas break, our apartment literally went on a baking spree. We made real gingerbread to make gingerbread houses during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. We also made sugar cookies while watching Elf, and there were cake balls and candy to boot, making Finals Week a lot more bearable (and tastier). 

Here are some pictures from our Cookie Paloozas: 

Making Gingerbread Houses: 

Cute roommate shot

Silly roommate shot

Did you know that you can create stained-glass windows for your gingerbread houses? First, cut out a "window" in your gingerbread. Then, crush some Jolly Ranchers. 

Next, fill your "window" with the crushed Jolly Ranchers. Melt the Jolly Ranchers by baking the gingerbread. 

Ta-da! The finished product!

It's a Gingerbread Tanner Building! 

Close-up of the Tanner Building. Pretty good, eh? 

Making my gingerbread house

Making a Gingerbread Guggenheim

The finished product! Isn't it lovely? 

A fallen gingerbread teepee, and two gingerbread houses. 

The Gingerbread Teepee

What kind of insurance should these gingerbread structures have?
Fire? No. Flood? Nein. Earthquake? Nope.
Answer: Cookie Monster Insurance!

No, not this one. 

                      THIS one. So innocent looking. Those poor cookies never knew what hit them. 

Sugar Cookie Night: 

We also made and frosted sugar cookies one night. I love sugar cookies . . . although I think I like the dough more than the actual cookies! Still, making and frosting sugar cookies brings back fond memories of listening to Mannheim Steamroller, watching the Christmas tree lights dance on the ceiling, and preparing a plate of homemade, frosting-sticky cookies for Santa. 

You know it's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas when you have gingerbread and sugar cookies baking in the oven. :)