Cookies and Craziness

I did something kind of crazy today, not that that is newsworthy or even all that unusual.

I baked about 240 cookies today. Thing is, I hadn't planned on making 240 cookies. It all started with The Sparrow's Nest having a cyber cookie exchange...and Be It Ever So Humble posted her picture of some beautiful peppermint pinwheel cookies from this recipe. When I saw these very cool looking cookies I knew I wanted to try making them.

So I did.

Except for some reason, my dough turned out more pink than red, but that was fine b/c my dd loves anything pink.

Then I thought I should make some cookies for a few people from church...and I couldn't just give one kind of cookie - so I decided to make some of my delicious (if I may say so myself) gingersnap cookies. So I made some of those.

This is about the point the craziness part sets in...

Meanwhile I got to thinking how I had about 15 bags of coconut (you know how it is when you are shopping without a list and you see something - coconut in my case - and figure you need one of those for your Christmas baking?). Well that shopping without a list or buying something that wasn't on a list that I had - happened a few too many times.

I used up some of the coconut on the CherryLICIOUS bars - but needed something else. I searched and found a recipe for some kind of white cookie with white chocolate chips that called for a cup of coconut - I was doubling the recipe, so that took care of 2 cups of coconut.

By this point I'm thinking I need to make one more kind of cookie b/c a variety of 4 cookies sounded nice - and I needed something with chocolate. As usual, I did not read through the recipe completely before I began and too late found out this was a recipe that had to be refrigerated TWICE. It is about 2 pm at that point, and I needed to have everything packaged up, labels made etc. by about 5:15 pm.

The chocolate cookie dough is EXTREMELY gloppy, hence the twice refrigeration. I move it into a flatter container and pop it into the freezer, trying to hasten the process. I'm moving fast now. Trying to find enough containers to package everything in b/c the little boxes I bought last year on sale, are too narrow to hold much of anything. So I try this and that - and end up with a hodgepodge of containers...some looking nice - some looking like they were those plastic re-usable or throw-away containers from Aldi (b/c they were)....but I perked them up with a colorful ribbon.

With about an hour to go - my ds starts complaining of a stomach ache...nothing unusual in that...at least at 4 pm.

At 5:15 - the kitchen and dining room and office areas are a mess - but the cookies are packaged (with some help from my dd).

We head out to church where we are having a meal - and where the kids will deliver the cookies to our friends. That all seemed to go well. Meanwhile ds is not eating - which does not bode well...but I also noticed it was grub he doesn't care much for anyway. Soon the boy tells me his stomach is hurting again and he feels crummy.

We head home.

He talks of being cold (which he never does) - I take his temperature and he has a slight fever. He falls asleep almost instantly.

I clean up the cookie mess.

Incidentally the chocolate cookies were the best...they tasted like brownies. And they actually look better than the photo shows.