It's NOW the Christmas Season

It's now officially the Christmas season.

For some the start of the Christmas season is the American Thanksgiving, for others it's "Black Friday" when they hit all the sales. For many children it's the opening of the first window on their advent calendar. For still others it's when they decorate a Christmas tree or shop for a present for a loved one.

For me the start of the Christmas season has always been marked by the baking of the first batch of shortbread. That's usually the 1st of December for me, so I'm a little late this year. A relatively new tradition for me, discovered a few years ago, is enjoying a glass of cranberry liqueur. I'm by no means a "boozer" and this delicious small treat is reserved for the Christmas season.

Dragon Mist Liqueur is made right here in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada. 

Sharing

As much as Flame loves eating the cookies he baked, I think he is enjoying sharing them with family and friends too.

Maybe it's all the compliments he's getting for being such a great little baker.

With Flame's Help

Each year I at least try to have the first batch of shortbread made on the first of December. With Elfonda's instruction Flame did a great job of helping out this year!

He seemed to be having great fun up there on the counter, cutting out the little star shapes one by one.

He used my own personal shortbread recipe. It's kind of an hybrid of my family's recipe for a large batch of shortbread made with a full pound of real butter, and my husband's family's traditional "Canada Cornstarch" recipe.

You can find the recipe, and read more about the making of our family traditions, in a 2006 post, Shortbread Traditions.