I spent the weekend baking.
Pumpkin cranberry bread with walnuts, as well as date filled cookies. The giant dates were garnered from my recent trip to Costco – and they are gorgeous.
Shortbread cookies with butter cream icing.
The first year that we lived in our house, I baked Christmas cookies and took them to our (then) neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Unfriendly. I knocked on the door and Mr. Unfriendly opened it a crack and when I offered up a bag of cookies he said, “Are you sure?” I assured him that I wanted to give him the cookies and so he slid his hand through the crack and thanked me as he slid the bag of cookies back through the slit in the door. I quickly left feeling rather stupid.
I’m happy to say that we have new neighbors who are magnanimous and friendly and tonight when I knocked on their door, it swung open wide and the cookies were gratefully received. Friendly banter followed with promises that we WILL get together in the new year.
Baking cookies and giving them to friends and neighbors is a tradition that picked up from my mom.
Dragonlane Artisan Jewellery 
Sometimes the best gift you can give crabby neighbors is to leave them be. I’d take your cookies, and pumpkin, cranberry, walnut bread any time, and I’d pour you a cocktail too.
Thank you, Alan. That would be lovely. And you can be sure that those neighbors never got another one of my cookies.
When I was a kid visitors were allowed to choose a wrapped gift from the tree.(red for ladies, green for men) Just a small token, but the gesture was appreciated.
Happy Christmas, Kim.
Thank you, Diane! Happy Christmas to you as well.
Your cookies look lovely and I wish I could have one. I love the picture of the cranberries, dates and nuts. So Christmasy!