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ust the thought of making Christmas cookies makes me smile. It was something I did with my mom when I was little and something I love to do with my own kids. The idea of cookies during the holidays started before Christmas had a name. The winter holidays were celebrated with sweet baked treats such as cookies, carrying such flavours as cinnamon, gin ger and dried fruits. _ These flavours were intro duced to Europe during the Middle Ages. â€" â€" The traditional cookies we eat at Christmas today can be traced back to this medieval European connection. OK, enough about how they started out. Holiday cookies have come so far today with everyone hav ing their own family favourites and traditions. If you feel overwhelmed with the thought of being in the kitchen all day baking cookies, then call up some friends and plan a cookie exchange. â€"_ It works basically like this: everyone bakes one or two kinds of cookies. Set a date and get together and make the exchange. You get Students at the University of Waterloo have organized an event called Out in the Cold to raise awareness and funds for poverty and homelessness in Waterloo Region. great getâ€"together with friends and get to go home with lots of different cookies you didn‘t spend hours baking. The event will take place on Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. the next morning outside the Stuâ€" dent Life Centre in the Courtâ€" vard at UW. Students from both UW and Wilfrid Laurier University as well as community members will be staying outside overnight to create awareness of poverty in our region. November is Diabetes Awareness Month and the Canadian Diabetes Association is urging young adults to take diabetes seriously. The disease is having a seriâ€" ous impact on people who have it, people close to them and on the healthâ€"care system, and the association recognizes the need to get Canada‘s younger generaâ€" tions involved. This year for Diabetes Awareness Month the associaâ€" tion will focus on innovative online communications to reach a younger demographic. A special interactive website has been developed at www.getâ€" serious.ca which uses a novel, lighthearted "speedâ€"dating" concept to drive home a serious message: diabetes is a serious Making cookies with the kids Time to take diabetes seriously Students fight local inequality If you are new to baking at All funds will be given to a Christmas but want to include your child in the experience, a basic sugar cookie recipe is a great start. Your child will have fun cutâ€" ting out the shapes, icing and putting decorations on themâ€" selves. There is a trick to making sugar cookies and that is to make sure that your dough is at least oneâ€"quarter inch thick. If your cookies are too thin, they will burn. Something else I highly recâ€" ommend is lining your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Consider this as insurance. The following recipe is one that I have used at the cookie decorating station at our church‘s Christmas mission craft and bake sale for the last couple of years. It is tried and true. This innovative and new program attempts to catch famâ€" ilies before they enter the shelâ€" ter system and guide them through the process of finding affordable, safe and sustainable housing. Lutherwood program called Families in Transition. Families in Transition uses a holistic approach to solving povertyâ€"related issues within the families so that they are able to raise their children in healthy and safe environments. As UW gathers more internaâ€" tional presence and national exposure, the students behind disease with serious impacts. "According to research conâ€" ducted by the Canadian Diaâ€" betes Association, young adults are informed about diabetes, but do not see it as the serious, potentially lifeâ€"threatening conâ€" dition that it is," said Colleen Mulholland, the viceâ€"president of marketing and communicaâ€" tions for the Canadian Diabetes Association. "Canada‘s future generations need to understand the impact of diabetes. The Canadian Diaâ€" betes Association is delivering the message, ‘Think diabetes can‘t affect you because you‘re young? Think again.‘ " Current projections indicate that three million Canadians will be affected by diabetes by 2010. Young people have always I hope you are able to share the joy of baking cookies with your kids this Christmas. Cream butter and sugar, add the egg yolk, vanilla and cream. Beat with an electric mixer until well combined. Mix together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time to the wet ingredients. Form the dough into a disk and wrap this in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minâ€" utes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to about one quarter of an inch thickness. Cut out shapes and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchâ€" ment paper. Bake cookies for eightâ€"10 minutes. Let them cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet before moving them to cooling racks. Out in the Cold believe that it is still very important to focus on communityâ€"related issues, such as inequality. The act of exposing ourselves to the harsh Canadian climate will show that students are willâ€" ing to act to bring issues of poverty in our community to the limelight. Community members are encouraged to come to the event to witness, participate and donate towards this worthy cause. For more information, please contact the organizers at outâ€" inthecold.event@gmail.com. been affected by type 1 and now more and more children and youth are being diagnosed with type 2. Changes to the diabetes landscape in Canada are being affected by various factors. For instance, obesity rates are rising and growing numbers of new Canadians are arriving from highâ€"risk ethnic groups such as people of Hispanic, Asian, South Asian or African descent. During the month of Novem:â€" ber, the association will be using their innovative approach to ensure young adults across Canada understand the imporâ€" tance of managing diabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes. _ To learn more, visit www.diaâ€" betes.ca or call 1â€"800â€"BANTING (226â€"8464). Basic Christmas Cookies 1 cup unsalted butter 3/4 cup sugar 2 egg yolks 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 ths. whipping cream 2 1/2 cup flour 1/8 tsp. salt 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 3 cups icing sugar 1 ths. fresh lemon juice 2 egg whites 1/4 tsp. salt Royal Icing Combine all ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add food colouring to get the colours you want. Jodi is a personal chef and owner of Dinner Solutions Personal Chef service. She can be reached at 519â€"497â€"1847 or jodyjodi@yahoo.com. Financial Planning That Works for You Learn more at www.assante.com/advisors/jeff.harris whe Please Recycle (519) 578â€"4494 ext. 5509 . p Assante Financial Management Ltd. Cge â€"a Insurance products and services are provided through Assante Estate and insurance Services Inc. This Newsâ€" paper Investing ® Banking Services _ ® Retirement Planning +«Bogart‘s® Insurance Tax & Estate egular Price $189 WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, November 21, 2007 * 11 HRISTMAS SPECIAL 1299 K# | . 4 J | [E 2 RBY Dave Rutherford, Jeff Harris, CFP, CLU, CHEC, EPC MBA, CFP Financial Advisor Financial Advisor Still Smoking) Needhelp quitting? CalliUaserQ I‘_!’?"..iggf 6 Assante Cge w/a/fltde/ *One Hour * Highly Effective *3 Year Guarantee * Appetite Points Free WEALTM MANAGEMENT ©$19â€"880â€"1237 684 Beimont Ave. W. Suite #304, Kitohener