Christmas Creations

Yesterday I took some time off from yard construction to bake some Christmas cookies.  I wanted to make cut-out cookies, but my dilemma was that I only have three cutters here in Florida:  a palm tree and two different versions of a pineapple.  This year is NOT the year to go shopping all over for non-necessities that may never be used again, so I decided to improvise and to think like a child. 

After a couple of hours, I had a pile of cookies waiting for decorating.  The time was too late to start that on Saturday, so I waited until this morning to tackle that task.

The cookies await their transformation.

I did not have many options with the palm tree other than to turn it into a Florida Christmas palm.  The magic of frosting and sprinkles has to go a long way this year to get into the Christmas spirit!

The plain palm tree is not very festive, until...

it becomes a Florida Christmas Palm.

The smaller pineapple reminded me of something entirely different, so I ran with that idea.  

The pineapple as it should be iced.

But with a little frosting and imagination,
it becomes a reindeer.

Lindsay says this is the male version.

The larger pineapple was more of a challenge.  I realized too late that I should have just used a glass to cut out circles that I could have decorated into wreathes or ornaments; instead, I made do with what I had before me.

The larger pineapple as it should be iced.

And, with LOTS of imagination, the ornament
with the hanger cap on top that it became.

The candy canes are just scraps of dough rolled and shaped before baking.  Nothing went to waste, and since I do not have to take these to any fancy parties, they will do quite well for this year.

So this Christmas we have a family of reindeer,

some assorted canes and ornaments,

and a forest of Florida Christmas Palms.

I will make pecan fingers tomorrow.  The good thing about those is that they still say "Christmas tradition" to me even if all I have to do is roll them in confectioner's sugar.  

Happy baking, everyone!