Baking a Home

Yesterday evening marked the beginning of Motivated Mom's holiday baking season.

There is nothing that turns a house into a home so much as baking cookies.

When you read the above sentence, the first thing you probably thought of was the smell of freshly baked cookies.

And while the aroma is a big part of the happy to be home experience, there's so much more.

There's the toasty warmth of the kitchen heated by the oven. A warmth that can only be equaled by snuggling under a down comforter or spooning with your loved one.

The clatter of cooking sheets and the scraping of spoons in pots and bowls tell clearly that the chef is at home in the kitchen.

Then there's the ringing of the cooking timer that brings family members from all parts of the house.

The sound of the timer is quickly drowned out by the chatter of family members reliving holiday's past while impatiently poking at the piping hot pastries - waiting for the treats to cool just enough that they won't burn salivating mouths. Almost without fail, patience runs out too soon and the anxious cookie samplers end up blowing on fingertips or trying to simultaneously chew and suck cool air into their mouths.

These are the things that make four walls a home.