Best Valentine Tradition

When I was in elementary school our next door neighbor brought us sugar cookies on Valentine's Day.  To a young child a huge sugar cookie heart with a thick lace frosting border and my name written in large cursive letters across the front ranked as one of the best valentines ever.

I have carried the tradition into my own family, but it doesn't always just happen on Valentine's Day.  Sometimes we bake sugar cookies for Christmas, Halloween or even a birthday.  Sometimes we do not even need a holiday - we just bake sugar cookies.

There is something magical about being together in the kitchen working on a creative project.

Young children love to squirt gobs of frosting all over the cookies and older children get very creative with their designs.

While we are working together we talk, laugh, tell stories, listen to music and have a fun time.  Usually everyone is relaxed and conversations come easily.

It doesn't take a lot of effort.  It is just a matter of finding an activity that the kids enjoy.  Start when the kids are little and repeat the activity often enough that it becomes a tradition.

These days in our family it is pretty much guaranteed that we will be in the kitchen making sugar cookies several times throughout the year.  The cookies are delicious, but the very best part is spending time together.

For more information on sugar cookie recipes and how I created the Hearts and Flowers bouquet photographed above take a look at Bake Chocolate Cake