I couldn’t call it an inspiring day to cook–to go back to bed, definitely yes, to sit wrapped up in front of a fire, yes again, to have someone say, “even in your pajamas, even with your no-help hair and pasty face, you are beautiful”, uh-HUH–that’s the kind of day I’m TALKING about! But none of that is going to happen. Even if I listen to this same 1990’s hope-hold-out song over and over and over again. So I’m going to start making and freezing Christmas cookie dough. Happy Day.

Make walnut crescents. They have plenty of protein if all you have is cookies and no dinner. Grind 1 1/2 cups of walnuts (not toasted) with a few tablespoons of sugar to prevent clumping. You want them super fine, but you’re not making butter. In a separate bowl, beat 2 sticks of room temperature butter with a wooden spoon or your hand. Add 1/2 cup of sugar, bit by bit, and keep beating until you no longer feel the granules of sugar in the butter. Add the nuts with your hand. Sift 2 1/2 cups of flour and stir that in about a quarter cup at a time, until fully incorporated, using your hand again, or the wooden spoon. Shape the cookies into tiny log shapes, starting with about a walnut sized piece of dough. Bend the ends towards each other to make a “C”. Get them really close to each other on a pan that will fit into your freezer, and then set them in there until they are pretty hard, or until you are ready to bake. Arrange them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until they are golden only on the bottom, about 15 to 20 minutes. When slightly cool, set them in a tray of sugar, spooning the sugar over the tops as well.