A March or two ago I was in the Relief Society Presidency and we planned to have a Mad Hatter Tea Party to celebrate the Relief Society's "birthday." I brought these very tea-worthy cookies and the coolest thing happened! I was sitting at a table with a bunch of ladies around my Gramma's age. (Now I may be age-ist, but I always think that ladies from that generation have super-duper baking skills.) So what happened next was really exciting for me ...
One of the ladies tried one of my Snowball Cookies and then she said to the ladies around her,
"Now THIS is a GOOD cookie." :O
So then the other ladies started trying theirs ... They were all complimenting how great they were! Someone even used the phrase, "Just perfect." :O
I was too embarrassed to say anything. Then one of them asked if anyone knew who made them. I'm sure I was bright red when I finally spoke up. I thought it was a great compliment, and in a weird way it made me really proud to be able to say that they were my Mom's recipe. She doesn't bake anymore. But I know she looks back at the time when she was able to be a stay-at-home Mom with pride. It sorta made me feel proud that I knew I could tell my mom her cookies were totally impressive among a crowd of ladies I've completely stereotyped in my head as being a tough cookie crowd. Kinda like, "See? You really did do a good job. You were really good at the home maker thing even when you didn't think you were."
I have another memory about these cookies that isn't exactly a pleasant one, but worth remembering. I shared the story with one of my friends that I visit teach, so maybe I'll just include the letter I wrote to her ...
Hi Ginger!
Sorry I missed you this month. I’ll call you soon so we can get together sometime in September. I hope things are going well for you!
The Visiting Teaching Message this month is about temples. I thought that was an appropriate lesson for you since you guys are taking the temple prep classes. When I first read the article it didn’t really stick out to me much. Maybe it’s because I don’t go to the temple much these days. (I’m just not a big fan of leaving my babies for that long!) But I know there’s a season for everything. Someday I’ll be more available to attend the temple regularly, but for right now my job is to remember the covenants that I’ve made there and live accordingly.
I read the article again today and tried to think back to my first time going to the temple. Then I remembered … it really sucked! I was 18 and had only been a member for a few months. I was going down with my (then boyfriend, now husband’s) family to the Oakland Temple to do baptisms. I was excited and happy as we pulled into the parking lot. Then I realized I forgot my temple recommend. James’s mom assured me it would be alright; they could have the temple workers call our Bishop and he could let them know I was worthy to attend. Well, they couldn’t get a hold of our Bishop … or anyone in the Bishopric … OR our Stake President. I was SO embarrassed and disappointed, and I really just wanted to go back to the car and be alone, so everyone went ahead and did some baptisms and I went back to the parking lot. I still could have had a good time there. I could have gone for a walk around the temple grounds or gone to the visitor’s center, or a million other things, but I was SO sad! I’m pretty sure I cried the entire time they were gone! (Ok, I know I did.) That sounds so silly, and I remember thinking, then, too, that it was silly to be so sad about a simple mistake. But, it definitely taught me that I never wanted to find myself in that situation again. Not just that I never wanted to forget my temple recommend again … (Now that I’m a mom I’m a million times more forgetful than I was then!) But that I never wanted to find myself unable to enter a temple. Or maybe even more than that, I never wanted to find myself separated from the ones I love. Thinking back to how I felt crying alone in the car, is a strong reminder to me to live worthy so that I can always be with my family.
So … the cookies? This sounds silly, too, but these were the type of cookies I made for the trip. I don't even remember if we ever got around to eating them or not. I thought I was being really cute how the powdered sugar made them white like temple clothes and all. So today, when I remembered the story and Sam asked to make brownies I thought these Snowball Cookies would be an appropriate treat to share with you. Maybe we should call them "Temple Cookies" instead. Or maybe "Stuck-In-The-Parking-Lot Cookies!"
I hope you guys enjoy them. See you soon!
I hope you guys enjoy them. See you soon!
Love, ellie
Snowball Cookies
1 cup Butter (2 cubes)
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
2 cups Flour
2 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 to 2 cups chopped Walnuts (I actually made them with Pecans the night of the R.S. Tea Party)
More Powdered Sugar to roll them in
Cream sugar and butter. Add other ingredients. Mix well. Chill batter. Shape into 1 to 2 inch balls. Bake at 350 for 15 min. Roll in Powdered Sugar.
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