A NEW FAVORITE COOKIE FOR CHRISTMAS

Cake is my favorite dessert, but at Christmas time, cookies are the star of the show. How many families get together to bake Christmas cakes? My mom, sister and I baked Michigan Rocks, peanut butter, and sugar cookies last Sunday. The surprise for the day was a recipe I've been holding onto for years..an orange, cranberry oatmeal cookie with three kinds of chocolate chips. Oh my goodness!

My husband bit into one yesterday for the first time and made quite a fuss about them. He's a cookie monster. I skipped melting white and milk chocolate then drizzling it on top, but that would make this cookie look more festive. Although it is quite delicious without that.

The recipe asks for orange zest, but I didn't have oranges, so I used 10 drops of orange essential oil. I think it gave the cookies better flavor than the zest would have. It's great to have orange, lemon and lime oils on hand for recipes when you don't have citrus fruits in your fridge.

Just make sure the oil is safe to ingest. Not all of them are. Young Living's vitality line is the one I trust for oils taken internally. 

The cookie recipe is from Martina McBride. I'm hoping for a cookbook by her for Christmas. If you want to see more tried and true recipes by celebrities, I have a Facebook page titled, Celebrity Recipes for Comfort Food & Cake. Check it out. And plan some time with your family or friends to cook or bake and then enjoy each other. 

This year has made me realize how much more I need to appreciate and enjoy the people in my life that I like to be around. I need to reach out more and visit more and communicate more instead of living every day in my own little bubble as time marches on. 

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas with the people you love to be around.