Enjoy some holiday spice

Shape them into stars, girls or boys, or anything else. Gingerbread cookies taste wonderful in any shape.

There are candles, plug-in and spray-can room fresheners, spice-filled potholders, potpourri and many other items meant to fill our homes with bakery-fresh spicy aromas, but there’s nothing that works better than a batch of gingerbread fresh from the oven.

I love gingerbread. I’ve made the cookies, the candy-decorated houses and the loaves. As a kid, one of my favorite books was The Gingerbread Man. If I remember right, a sly fox ended up eating the gingerbread man. In those days, stories didn’t always have happy endings, but I guess it depends on one’s point of view. I’m sure the fox considered it a very happy ending.

Another favorite book had something to do with a little snowman that ended up melting in the sun, so as I write this and ponder my past, I am wondering about my choice of childhood entertainment. And Grimm’s Fairy Tales were downright gruesome! But I turned out all right ... didn’t I? *ahem*