Walking into The G's Healthy Gourmet with a couple of borrowed kids I am greeted by the sounds of Christmas carols playing over the speakers and the sight of children rolling dough and sprinkling flour. Tiffany, the Pastry Chef, and her husband, Nick, the Executive Chef at The G's, greet us at the door. We settle at a table while Tiffany brings us our supplies…rolling pins, a block of cookie dough, a bowl of her own specialty gluten-free flour, cookie cutters, milk (because what goes better with cookies than milk?) and a plate of cookies to munch on while we are working.
Rolling out the slightly cold dough and pressing the cutters into it is a lot of fun for the kids. It's hard to get the cold dough started, the adults help get things going. Some of the children seem to really like the idea of flouring the table, the rolling pin, the dough, the floor; Tiffany assures the adult guests that they have someone coming in to clean up after the event is over. Rolling, cutting, reshaping and re-rolling the dough, the kids are having a lot of fun. Excitedly chattering away about the choices of cookie cutters they are using the children quickly fill up their baking trays. After getting each child to initial their parchment paper lined tray Tiffany and Eric, her assistant, take the cookies back into the kitchen and slide them into the oven.
Ten long agonizing minutes. Waiting and waiting for those cookies to come out of the oven. Playing with flour. Making shapes out of left over dough. Is it ten minutes yet? Are the cookies ready yet?
Then the wait is over and the warm cookies arrive. A pretty pile of holiday shapes all waiting for their final transformation. With them come bowls of fluffy frosting (a serious temptation for little fingers), parchment paper frosting-filled bags and the excitement of creating a masterpiece.
It was clearly obvious that everyone, kids, parents, the folks at The G's, had a good time. Each child went home with their cookies carefully placed into a stack of take-out boxes, proudly carrying the haul of their handmade creations. What a sweet way to start the holiday season.
