Martha, Rachael and Betty

Ah! I think I smell Cavkis baking.

That's Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray and Betty Crocker. Yep all three gathered in the Blume kitchen this weekend. The occasion? The Annual Christmas Cookie Bake. This tradition started centuries ago in an ancient Teutonic cave. Fire had just been discovered and cookie dough, which had been discovered many years before that, was starting to go bad. Isa Gudfurduncin, a distant relative of either Jo or Ron, accidently dropped a spoonful of her dough onto a rock at the edge of the fire. Voila*!!! the first cookie was born. Isa gathered all of her female relation together and started dropping stickfuls of dough on the hot rocks. (Only Isa had a spoon so the others had to make do with whatever was handy - some hands even) The men of the tribe were busy in nearby fields watching the exciting entertainment of the time, a game of "Kikemindanutz". Each woman hoping to attract the attention of a guy, decorated her "Cavki" with nuts and berries and even colored sugar from the local Piggly Wiggly. Enough of the history lesson, on to this weekends cookie bake. There isn't too much to tell that can't be seen in the well captioned photos below. The women, along with baby Saffron, took over the kitchen, Ron and Derek took refuge in the living room while the dogs, Tina, Snoopy and Sammy went wherever they thought they might pick up a wayward morsel. The results were, not just tasty but but very attractive. Isa would be proud of the latest "Cavki" bakers.

Saffron gets her first exposure to "Cookie Madness".

With Saffron a safe distance away, the activity reaches full force.
To the real Martha, Rachael and Betty - Eat your hearts out.

Sammy to Tina - "Did you hear something hit the floor?"

And there they are!
Not bad for some old dough and a few hot rocks.

* Voila - probably the origin of Ron and Jo's mothers' name which in a later translation of this story was misspelled Viola.