Candy cane cookies

Every December, Sarah wants to make candy cane cookies.  She brought it up yesterday, and I felt myself making that face that my mom used to make when I would ask the same thing when I was a little girl.  It's that face that says, "Oh no, she wants to make those cookies that take all afternoon and require making two doughs, chilling the dough, rolling it into ropes, braiding the ropes, and twisting them into candy cane shapes, and I know she's going to weasel out after the first five minutes and I'm going to be left with all the work and the mess, and my reward will be these dry, tasteless cookies!"  But I remember what it feels like to be a little girl who wants so much to bake with Mommy in the kitchen like a big girl but who is at the mercy of whatever Mommy says because she's too little to do it all herself.  So I said what my mom always said, "Oh! Candy cane cookies!  That sounds like fun!  Let's do that tomorrow, ok?" and hope she forgets by tomorrow.  

But I never did, and she never does either.  So today we made the dough, divided it, colored it, chilled it, and just as we were getting started rolling it out, Sarah's buddy showed up at the door. 

So they worked on it together for five minutes and then drifted away to play.  

Noah wandered into the kitchen and twisted a couple cookies.  And then it was just me.  When my little girl grows up and leaves home, I'm going to make sure I give her this recipe to take with her so she can experience it with her kids.