There are just certain things that remind me of the holidays- the smell of pine trees, snow falling from the sky- and of course, enjoying a hot cup of cocoa. Once the temperature falls below 40°F, a cup of hot cocoa before bedtime becomes a tradition. So when I saw these cute Hot Cocoa Cup Cookies that were developed for our downloadable Holiday Brochure, I figured I probably needed to make them to accompany my nightly cup of hot chocolate.

Making cookies at the holidays is one of my favorite memories as a child. It starts to feel like the holidays when we start to make cookies! As a mom, I couldn’t wait to make and decorate cookies with my own children - who happen to be boys. That’s where my Rockwell moment ends and reality begins.

Happy Flag Day! Some of you may not realize that today is a holiday- June 14th commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day in 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. I grew up with two of the most patriotic grandparents a kid could have- my grandpa was a staff sergeant in the Army and my grandmother was a technical specialist in the Women’s Army Corps.

Every year my younger daughter’s school holds a Holiday Fair, with lots of games and crafts and gifts, plus a giant bake sale. Each family brings at least one item for the bake sale. Cut-out cookies are always a big seller, so I decided on Eggnog Snowflakes as this year’s Lacey-Gotz contribution.

The cousins from California just came to visit and we made sure to have some fun activities planned. Rio and Roark are 7 and 5, and they love baking, so we thought it would be fun to make cookies.

It’s flower season in Minnesota! I look forward to the month of May all winter because, when you live in Minnesota, everyone knows that May is the month when you can finally get out in your garden and start planting.

Spring is a wonderful season of the year! For me good things come to mind like “April showers bring May flowers.” Spring is also the second most common time of year for me to bake cut-out butter cookies.