Extraordinary Cookies

I know what you're thinking. Ordinary people don't have homemade cookies like these. Ordinary people buy store bought seven-layer-cake. If they are feeling ambitious, they bake chocolate chip cookies. Or banana muffins. Or simple chocolate cupcakes. Definitely not cookies such as these.

But ordinary people who have extraordinary eleven-year-old twin daughters just might. They just might convince their super talented daughters to bake and roll out sugar cookies. They just might convince their super helpful husband to take their daughters to the store for fondant and icing tips. They just might convince their super cooperative daughters to decorate said cookies with said fondant and icing tips.

So, there you have it. That's the story of how the very ordinary Locker family got such glamorous cookies to grace our Shabbos table this week. And the story of how this here Ordinary Blogger was reminded (once again) of how good it is to be a mother of two such wonderful eleven-year-old daughters.

Our Favorite Sugar Cookies
Because I am very ordinary, I'm posting the sugar cookie recipe here and leaving it to you to figure out how to decorate them so they look like the spectacular cookies in this post. (If you want to check out this site, you might find it helpful.)

1 lb. margarine
2 cups sugar
7 egg yellows
1/4 cup good white wine
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon juice (preferably fresh squeezed)
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 cups flour (you may need more)

Using an electric mixer, cream the margarine till soft. Add the sugar and cream till light.

Slowly add the eggs and beat until light. Add the remaining ingredients, in the order listed, using as much flour as you need to form a smooth soft dough that doesn't stick to your fingers or to the side of the bowl.

Roll out and shape with cookie cutters. Bake on cookie sheets at 350* for about 15 minutes (more or less, depending on the thickness of your cookies). The cookies should be a very pale golden color.

(If you're ambitious, let the cookies cool thoroughly before using fondant or royal icing to decorate. Sarah - one of the wonderful daughters mentioned above - warns that if you use fondant, you should be prepared for an experience almost as nauseating as eating spoiled yogurt (guess what she had for lunch today). But they sure do look pretty!)