Virtual my a**!!! Put that in a box and ship to St. Louis!

flippin' amazing! your gifts are absolutely beautiful--good for you!

Awesome!

Wow - drop dead gorgeous! What are the pink and green frosted cookies, please? I wish I had one right this minute.

Beautiful job! Lucky neighbors!

Very, very nice! I'm starting my baking today... yikes!

*blushing* thanks for the kind words everyone!

woodie, the cookies are just called Italian Cookies--they are a lemon flavored cakey cookie made with tons of eggs.

It was my grandma's recipe, and she always did lemon flavor, but her cousin made them with anise flavoring.

Your cookies are fantastic!!!!!!!!!!
I forgot to take pics and mine have all been delivered to the neighbors and friends.

Linda

Absolutely gorgeous! I am so jealous that you are done and I've got a baking marathon ahead of me today!

Just wonderful...fabulous selection of cookies and candy! I especially like the pressec oookie with the star!!!

I'd be thrilled to be on the receiving end of one of your cookie tins!

Michelle

Wow, I'm impressed. What a beautiful array of cookies.

Ann

Wow, when you come out of "lurkdom" (is that a word?) you do it big time! LOL

Those are some gorgeous cookies, and what a nice variety, too! Lucky neighbors!

What are those with the fruit and nuts, looks like white fudge, maybe? Recipes, please.....

Linda

Send some my way...they are beautiful!!

Nancy

Wow! Beautiful cookie tins! Yes! Please share the recipes - that Italian lemon cookie sounds good.

Think of all the joy that your hard work will provide!
Well done!

Teresa

Your packages are just beautiful! Sure wish I was a neighbor. Would you mind listing what you made. It all looks so good.
Lisa

What a wonderful array of baked goods. I'm sure glad you came out of lurkdom! thanks for the virtual cookie tin, goes well with my diet...lol!

Brenda

Is that all???????????

LOL!!!! Wow, what a lovely selection, and not only do the goodies look good, they are so neatly arranged - which appeals to this Virgo.

Keep de-lurked. ;-) Maureen

I'm with Brenda - goes well with my diet, too - I think I gained back 5 lbs just looking at all those beautiful cookies (and that's a compliment).

I too would love to see a list. I still have 2 more batches of cookies to go - rolled sugar cookies and my husband has requested another batch of Brown Sugar cookies - and of course the pies for Christmas Day (cherry and pumpkin).

DonnaR/CA

Holey, Moley! That's beautiful!!

Great job. Whoever receives these are very lucky!

Wow, can you move next door to me? Stunning, just stunning. And me without an oven!

here's a list of what I made. I realized that the only cookie not on the top layer is my Ginger Sugar Cookies--they're the big dark round ones in the first picture:

Apricot Chews
Butterscotch Cookies
Cardamom Print Wafers
Chocolate Truffle Cookies
Cocoa Mint Wafers
Coconut Shortbread
Danish Sugar Cookies
Date Rum Balls
Fudge
Ginger Pecan Oatmeal Crisps
Ginger Sugar Cookies
Honey Almond Butter Strips
Italian Cookies
Lemon Spritz Trees
Snowballs
Stained Glass Windows
Sweetheart Crescents
Toffee Butter Crunch
White Choc. Cranberry Pistachio Bark

msafirstein: the pressed cookies are Cardamon Print Wafers (new this year--I will up the cardamom for next as you can barely taste it)

doucanoe: the white chocolate is a super easy Cranberry Pistachio bark--I just googled it for the recipe amts!

here's the Italian Cookie recipe:

6 eggs
2 sticks of margarine or butter
1 c. sugar
4 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat margarine/butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat until well blended. Add lemon and vanilla extracts. Slowly add flour and baking powder to form a stiff-ish dough. Chill dough. If dough is sticky, flour hands while rolling.

Roll in 3/4-1" balls and bake at 350 for 10 minutes until lightly browned on bottom.

Cool and frost with:

ConfectionerÂs sugar
Butter
Milk
Blend together and add food coloring if desired. (I also add a dash of lemon extract)(this is somewhere between a frosting and a glaze--you want it runny enough to slightly drip and smooth out when you dip the cookies)

WOW!!!! Those are gorgeous!!

I think I'd have to go back on wheat to eat those if they showed up on my door step!

What a lovely variety and so well presented!

Beautiful and delicious looking. Great presentation!

Those are absolutely gorgeous, lucky neighbors indeed.

WOW! Awesome cookies!

Sure wish you were my neighbour! What a great job, how thoughtful and generous of you.

We could move you know and share a group home nearby... ;-)

Is this more or less what you made?? (from hipmama blog)I need to make something else for a Christmas lunch we're attending.

CRANBERRY-PISTACHIO BARK
1 cup coarsely chopped pistachios (5 ounces)

1 cup dried cranberries (5 ounces)

24 ounces semisweet chocolate or white chocolate chips

Preparation and cooking time: 50 minutes

Line a baking sheet with foil. In a bowl, combine the pistachios and cranberries. Measure out half the mixture and set aside.

In a bowl set over hot, not boiling, water, melt the chocolate chips. Remove from the heat, and stir in half of the pistachio-and-cranberry mixture.

Spread the mixture evenly over the baking sheet. Sprinkle the reserved pistachios and cranberries over the chocolate, and use a spatula to gently press them in. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until hardened. Break into uneven pieces. Makes 2 pounds.

Each ounce has 140 calories, 8.4 g fat, 18 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber,

2 g protein

Beautiful and very professional looking with the papers. Where do you get those papers? You can send a tin to me anytime! ;>)
Clare

They all look so yummy. How many days of baking did it take? Did you freeze any ahead of time?

Your cookies are beautifu. Looks like store bought.I do 2 craft shows a year with baked goods and candy but nothing like this.

msazadi--that's pretty much what I did, but I put extra cranberries and pistachios and stirred it all in.

aptosca--those are just ordinary cup-cake papers--there's a post around here from me asking about where to get the tubes of 500 white papers and teresa posted this source for me (I'm stocking up for next year!)

http://www.wesellcoffee.com/page13.html

natesgramma--I started last Sat and finished on Thursday. Mnay of these are refigerator cookies, so I whip up 4-5 batches and stick them in the fridge.

Amazing job!

You did a lovely job both with the cookies and the presentation! It's really nice to see that some people still do things like this. I'm sure your friends and neighbors really enjoy them!