THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Santa Claus came early this year! At least to our house anyway.

My thoughtful husband showed enough forethought to realize that the gift I wanted most would actually come in handy before the holidays (he's smart like that). Sooooo, he snuck downstairs one night while I was asleep (yep--totally unbeknownst to me) and ordered my present online. It was delivered to my office a couple of weeks before Christmas. Clever boy.

I love to cook. Not saying I'm great at it but I do love it . . . Especially baking. My specialty has become my Grandmother Elliott's Cheese Straws. They remind me of Christmas because that was the time of year that she always had an endless supply of canisters filled w/ those buttery, cheesy, pecan-laden, pastry-like cookies. Yum. I never grew tired of them. Still don't!

Grandmother also cooked them for wedding receptions, showers, etc. but Christmas . . . now thaaaat was when she churned them out.

The Cheese Straws are a labor of love. Over the years, I've learned what works best and have my whole system down. I bake them by the dozens.

This Christmas, the process was so much smoother! David ordered a KitchenAid Mixer for me. Yep. The heavy-duty stand mixer that takes up any spare counter space you might have had and weighs roughly 120 pounds.

Everyone oooohs and aaaaahs when I mention that I got one for Christmas (and by everyone, of course I mean women). The first question they ask is always, "What color did you get?" (Chrome, by the way.)

As I baked my Christmas cookies this year I couldn't help but think about just how much my Grandmother Elliott woulda enjoyed this mechanical wonder.

I'm guessin' I'll pass it on to my granddaughter some day . . .