Holiday Blues…Clowie…Christmas Cookies

It is just a drizzly grey day – not even 50 shades of gray – just uniform blah gunship grey and drizzly. Did I mention drizzly?? And grey????

I have a case of the Christmas/Holiday blues big time. My mom is in Florida and I will miss her. A couple of my friends have died this year and I miss them. Boohoo….waaaaaaaaaa

But then I talked a little bit to Clowie – she always makes me happy. Here is the website: http://clowiescorner.wordpress.com .  She’s been nominated for a bunch of well deserved awards and that makes me happy. Go and visit her. A definite smile maker.

She nominated me for the Inner Peace Award. That made me sniff a bit.  I didn’t feel peaceful, I just felt blah. But she said when she visited my blog, she felt peaceful.  I am very grateful for the nomination and the pat on the shoulder.

So like I said, after talking with Clowie abit, I feel better.  In fact, I feel like making some Christmas cookies.

Almond Shortbread Cookies
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 drops almond extract
1 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour, plus extra to dust
3/4 cup ground almonds
Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the beaten egg and extract. Add the flour, ground almonds and lemon zest and mix until the dough comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead into a ball. Divide the dough in half and then roll each half into a log, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (the dough can be frozen at this point for a later use).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the plastic wrap and slice into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets and bake until golden brown at the edges, about 15 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 3 or 4 minutes before transferring to wire cooling racks to cool completely, or just eat warm from the oven. FOR FUN: Drizzle with blue icing, sprinkles, sugar, or roll edges of cookies in sugar or sprinkles before baking

Have a blue blue Christmas!!!!