For several years during the Christmas season (before children) I made cut-out cookies and really enjoyed it. When the girls came along, life became too crazy to keep that tradition going.

But then I had a brainstorm when the girls were toddlers -- make cut-out cookies for Halloween and Valentine's Day when life was a little less chaotic and the social calendar wasn't so crazy. Now these two holidays rarely pass without the girls and I making a few batches of cut-outs to decorate. It's been a great family tradition for us.

And since I'm still not up to climbing mountains yet and haven't done a whole lot outdoors lately (I'm still working on getting back in shape after my surgery) I thought I'd share my 'learnings' about making cut-out cookies for those parents who want to make them for the holiday season.

Make the dough ahead of time. It can take an hour or more just to make so I prefer to do this with the girls a day or two ahead of time. Plus, rolling out *cold* dough really is easier and makes a better cookie.

Frozen cookies are easier to decorate for little hands, especially if you decide decorating (not rolling and cutting) is the way to go with your toddler/preschooler. Plus, unfrosted cookies last a month or more in the freezer if packaged well (in a freezer ziplock baggie and carefully stacked so they don't break). Just be sure cookies are completely cooled before packaging up for the freezer.

See the cookie and frosting recipe I use - and like - below.

I've never been very good at decorating cookies but the girls enjoy mixing and matching various sprinkle and frosting options.

"Look mom, I'm a pumpkin head!" She's 11 and I'm amused she still thinks that's funny.

Sugar Cookies
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour

Mix butter and shortening together then add sugar and baking powder. Blend until well-combined. Then add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add one cup of flour at a time. Make dough into oval shape, cover in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for at least 3 hours (I usually keep in overnight).

Roll out dough on a floured surface (kids tend to put too much flour, a tablespoon is usually enough) and be careful the rolled-out dough is not too thin (1/4" works well for us).

Bake cookies on an un-greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees (cooler than most recipes but I've found this temp works better) for about 5-6 minutes (depending on cookie thickness).

Cookies are done when the edges start to lightly brown (which doesn't always look done but it likely is so experiment with one pan at a time at first).

Let the cookies sit in the pan for about 2 minutes after removing from the oven. This will help ensure the cookies don't break before moving them to the cooling racks. I have 6 cookie sheets to keep the cookie cutting and baking moving along for the kids.

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla (we like orange too) extract
1 Tablespoon milk

Mix everything together until well combined. Separate into small bowls and then add food coloring.

After dinner - and the thunderstorms - we went strawberry picking at Dole's Orchard in Limington.

We spent less than 40 minutes picking and managed to net a little over 20 pounds of strawberries. They were ripe and plentiful last night!

We were told that there were also some ripe cherry trees at the orchard and we couldn't resist picking some of those as well. We had never picked cherries before.

After eating one right off the tree and feeling like the enamel on my teeth was going to come off, I let the kids know the cherries were REALLY sour. And although my kids love sour stuff - including sucking on lemons and limes - I wasn't sure even they would like them.

But they had to try them and both agreed that they were in fact pucker-face sour.

It took L. nearly a minute to recover from the sourness of the bite she took.

We only picked two pounds of cherries and that was just enough for a cobbler. I had never made a fresh cherry cobbler before and decided to add some sweet wild blueberries to offset the tartness of the cherries (and to avoid having to add so much sugar - the recipe called for a cup and a half but with the blueberries a single cup was more than enough).

The kids and Fino gave the dish a big thumbs up and suggested we go pick more cherries today.

I guess we've got another favorite fruit season in our house now. I just wish it wasn't so time consuming to pit the cherries ...

CHERRY BERRY COBBLER Recipe

1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons corn starch
3 cups sour cherries (pits removed)
1 cup wild blueberries

Add all above ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it bubbles and thickens then transfer to baking dish.

In a separate bowl, add the following ingredients and mix just until combined.

3 Tablespoons shortening
1 cup flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the warm cherries and then bake at 400 degrees for about 15-18 minutes.

Do you have a favorite berry recipe? Post it below!

We went right out to Dole's Orchards after my earlier entry this morning. When we got home L. washed the strawberries, G. made whipped cream and I made the shortcake that we really like (we substitute some of the white flour with oatmeal flour to make it a little healthier plus, we all love oatmeal anyway).

And voila!

Fino better get home early tonight to get his strawberry shortcake - the girls and I have already made more than a dent in the 11 pounds of strawberries we picked today.

Do you have a favorite strawberry recipe? Post a comment - we'd love to have some new recipes this season.