Sunflower Sugar Cookies

Well it happened again. Rosalie's pet raccoon, Roscoe, got into the bird feeder again. She swears he doesn't do it, but I see him every morning scooting his way up the pole, using those weird little hands to grab as much seed as he can and picking through it like he's a doctor doing major surgery. Then he scuttles off like it's no big deal.

Well today I took a picture of him doing it. The first time I took a picture of Roscoe stealing those seeds it was with that fancy new iPhone Tom gave me. You know the one. He gave it to me last Christmas and then spent all day playing on it telling me he was "getting it ready for me."

I took that phone and I staked out that bird feeder and lo and behold here Roscoe came, climbing up that pole like he was paid to do it and I snapped near a hundred photos then marched my butt right over to Rosalie's. She had the nerve to tell me the photos were fake and that I was just an old biddy trying to cause problems between her and Roscoe.

As if I have the time. I'm certain she does, ever since Yancey left her for Nancy down at the grocery store, Rosalie has become one of those crotchety old ladies that gets into everyone's business. She has all the time in the world, but I have things I have to do.

So since she didn't believe her eyes, I dug out my old polaroid camera and finally, after two long weeks of waiting, caught Roscoe red handed. And when she came out to water her lawn this morning I showed her my proof, positive she would finally see reason. But Rosalie has never been one to see reason, it's why she married Yancey in the first place truth be told. We all told her it was a bad idea and that he'd been necking with Nancy since they knew what necking was, but she didn't listen and she didn't listen about Roscoe either. Do you know what she did do?

She laughed at me! That woman laughed right in my face! Then she had the nerve to tell me that if that picture was real, the picture I was shaking right in her face!, if it was real, then her dear Roscoe was only taking them to eat later. It shouldn't be a big deal.

It is a big deal Rosalie. Because Roscoe is not eating those sunflower seeds. He's burying them in the woods behind my house and growing sunflowers. And then he takes those sunflowers he grew (from my sunflower seeds he stole from my bird feeder) and anonymously enters them into the Garden Care County Fair contest and every year they beat out my perfectly arranged geraniums. And I will not be beaten by a racoon again this year! Not again.

Anyway, here's that cookie recipe you asked for. Don't know why you don't just google it.

Recipe

Submitted by StevenandMaggie McClain

Sugar Cookies

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 40 mins

Additional Time: 2 hrs

Total Time: 3 hrs 10 mins

Servings: 60

Yield: 60 cookies

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks

• ½ cup almond paste, broken into pieces

• 2 cups unsalted butter, chopped and softened

• 1 ¾ cups white sugar

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

• Pinch of orange zest

Directions

Beat egg yolks and almond paste together in a bowl using a mixer on medium speed until crumbly, about 2 minutes. Add butter, sugar, and salt to almond paste mixture and beat until creamy, about 3 minutes; reduce speed to low and gradually beat in flour just until blended.

Divide dough into 4 pieces and flatten each into a disk on a lightly floured surface. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Place 1 dough piece on a lightly floured surface and roll into 1/4-inch thickness using a floured rolling pin. Cut dough into sunflower shapes using floured cookie cutter I gave you for Christmas last year. Arrange cookies 1-inch apart on a large baking sheet. Form any remaining scraps into a disk and refrigerate.

Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.