From left, brothers Luke, 4, and Cole Thomas, 8, dive into the art of Christmas cookie decorating with cousins Eli, 6, and Sylvie Thomas, 9.

OUR FRIENDS Dan and Laura host a cookie-baking party every December. It is the most anticipated holiday event in our family. The party has become such a tradition that when we visit Dan and Laura any other time of the year, my 4-year-old daughter asks, "Are we going to make cookies today?"

I love to bake. Whereas cooking is purposeful, baking is pure indulgence. Chocolate layer cake. Lemon meringue pie. Angel food cake. You don't need these to survive, but they sure make the day much more pleasant.

Cookie classics The Seattle Times Food Department has prepared its annual mail-out of eight holiday cookie recipes. The packet includes: Kahlua Fudge Mounds, Cream-Filled Brandy Snaps, Chocolate Mint Nuggets, Buttery Gingersnaps, Almond Delights, Toasted Coconut & Macadamia Nut Clusters, Pumpkin-Ginger Bars and Holiday Pinwheel Cookies. The recipes are printed on pink 81/2-by-11-inch paper and are attached with a gold clip. These are great for adding to your own recipe collection or offering as hostess gifts during the season. Send a $3 check or money order and your complete mailing address to: Holiday Cookies, The Seattle Times Food Dept., P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. (Please do not send cash.)

To me, baking means sweet cream butter and fresh farm eggs, granulated sugar and unbleached flour, unsweetened chocolate and pure vanilla extract, not the partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, sodium stearoyl lactylate and artificial flavor that are found in so many boxed mixes. Much of the year I don't have time to throw together anything more elaborate than chocolate chip cookies or my mother's chocolate cake. That's why I look forward to baking cookies every year with Dan and Laura.

Dan and Laura's early parties were at their North Seattle home. The kitchen was just big enough to accommodate the guest list. At the back was a narrow booth, and as many of us as possible would pack into the banquettes to decorate and devour cookies. Two years ago, Dan and Laura moved to a new house. The kitchen is large and airy, opening out to a dining and living space, so at any one time people can be prepping, cooking, eating and talking.

The cookie-baking party always begins in the late afternoon on a Sunday close to Christmas. Everyone brings an hors d'oeuvre and a double batch of cookie dough. When we leave, we take away full stomachs and as many cookies as we can cram into our bowls and containers.

Now in its 10th season, the party has whittled down to a core group. There's a rhythm to our movements that has developed over the years. The familiarity of our tasks, and one another, allows us all to relax and enjoy ourselves.

Kitty often comes with retro '50s cocktail nibbles — dates stuffed with a blanched almond and wrapped with bacon. We put these under the broiler immediately to cook the bacon and scent the kitchen. Plus, we need the oven space for the cookies. I bring my signature deviled eggs. When we arrive, Dan will be at the stove stirring a savory lobster bisque or French onion soup. We chat and eat for a bit, but everyone understands that this is a working party. We'll have to get down to business soon or we'll be baking all night. That is not, anymore, an option for us-middle-aged revelers with small children.

Jennifer typically brings the sugar-cookie dough. It is primarily for the 10-and-under set. The kids press out a jumble of bells, trees and stars and decorate their work with icing in various hues, sugar crystals and sprinkles. It's important to keep the kids occupied so the rest of us can bake.

My husband and I traditionally bring Sour-Cream Ginger Cookie dough from Maida Heatter's "Book of Great Cookies." I found the recipe in the December 1995 issue of House Beautiful and still keep the magazine on the shelf with my cookbooks. They require just enough time and energy that I'm only tempted to make them once a year — at party time.

But one hectic holiday season, when my daughter was an infant, the day simply got away from me. When I looked at the clock, I realized I wouldn't have enough time to prepare the dough. Luckily, I had recently been shopping at Pasta and Co. and noticed their neatly boxed frozen cookie dough. So on the way to Dan and Laura's, I rushed into the store and bought two cartons of Chocolate Truffle dough. Back in the car, I dumped the frozen dough into my oversized mixing bowl, turned on the heater and prayed it would thaw quickly. We were the last to arrive at the party, and with everyone talking and nibbling, no one noticed my frozen batter. By the time the oven was turned over to me, the dough was entirely workable.

The directions were easy and the cookies were a huge success. I might just "make" them again this year.

Tracy Schneider lives and writes in West Seattle. Greg Gilbert is a Seattle Times staff photographer.

Makes about 3½ dozen 2½ cups sifted all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking soda 1/8 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1½ sticks unsalted butter (6 ounces), room temperature 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 2 tablespoons light molasses 1 egg ½ cup sour cream 1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon, and set aside. 2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the brown sugar and beat well. Beat in the molasses. Add the egg and beat well. On low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients in three portions, alternating with the sour cream. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat only until smooth. 3. Use a rounded teaspoonful of dough for each cookie. Place them 1½ to 2 inches apart on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Bake cookies for 12 to 14 minutes. The cookies are done when the tops spring back when lightly pressed with a fingertip. Transfer cookies to racks to cool. 1 egg white 1½ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1. In a small bowl, beat the egg white with an electric mixer until foamy. Add the confectioners' sugar, salt, butter and vanilla and beat well for 2 or 3 minutes. The mixture should be runny enough to make a smooth glaze, but not so thin that much of it runs off the sides. If the mixture is too thin, add more confectioners' sugar. 2. Place the racks of cookies over waxed paper. With a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the cookies. Let cookies stand on racks until the glaze is completely hard and dry. Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator. — From Maida Heatter's "Book of Great Cookies"