----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathy Dery" Go Cookie Crazy Christmas just isn't Christmas without sugar cookies: Tucked cozily into a warm kitchen, apron dusted with flour, fingers sticky with five colors of frosting, tummy aching from sampling one too many of the wares, and heart content from inhaling that buttery, comforting aroma of fresh cookies and spending time with the people you love. With our tips for cutting, decorating and packing for the mail, you'll delight everyone with batches of your most beautiful and tantalizing cookies yet. . Rolling and Cutting. You will find cookie dough much easier to work with after it's been refrigerated for at least half an hour. Keep cookie cutters from sticking to the dough by misting them very lightly with cooking spray. If you're cutting out delicate or large shapes, save them from falling apart by rolling out the dough on parchment paper, lifting off the scraps, then sliding the paper directly onto a baking sheet. . Frosting. One popular frosting for sugar cookies is a simple glaze of confectioners' sugar and either milk or fruit juice. By adjusting the ratio of liquid to sugar, you can make this glaze as thick or as thin as you'd like. Royal icing is another option: it dries to a hard, crunchy finish and also holds up well in the mail. Buttercream frosting is soft and thick; tasty, but not good if you plan to stack the cookies. Instead of frosting, you can also dip half or all of a cookie in chocolate and then in chopped nuts or crushed candy canes. . Other Decorating Ideas. Instead of frosting, you can decorate the cookies before you bake them! Sprinkle on coarse colored sugar, nuts, colored sprinkles, silver dragees or other small candies,. Alternatively, make colorful designs on the unbaked cookies by painting them with a mixture of egg yolks beaten together with food coloring. The finished cookie will be bright and glossy. . Mailing. When making cut-out cookies for mailing, choose fairly sturdy shapes without too many small protrusions. Pack decorated, dry cookies in a flat, sturdy container with a tight-fitting lid. Lay down a selection of cookie shapes in a single layer, fitting them together as closely as possible. Now pile more cookies into the container, stacking same-shape cookies on top of each other. When the container is full, put wadded-up pieces of wax paper or unbuttered popcorn into any empty spaces, then seal the lid. Wrap the container in bubble wrap, then pack it into a box that is further padded with foam peanuts. The cookies should arrive fresh and beautiful and full of home-baked love.