What IS that cat looking at???

Bip, our Cornish Rex cat, looks scary, but couldn't be sweeter. He seems to have spotted something...

What IS that cat looking at???

Mice--lots of them!! Oh no...

Unfortunately, I think I ate more of them than Bip did...

...and here's the baker!

Rick makes fab Night Before Christmas mouse cookies...and looks great in my Christmas apron too!

Night Before Christmas Mice Cookies

3 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or almond extract)
1 large egg

Sliced almonds (for ears)
10 feet of red or black licorice laces cut into 3-inch strips (for tails)
Small tube of black and pink icing for nose and eyes (or 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk flour and salt together in a bowl.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy (about 2 minutes on medium-high speed). Add in sugar, beating until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add flour mixture gradually, mixing on low speed until blended.
4. Scrape dough onto large piece of plastic wrap and cover completely with wrap. Refrigerate until firm enough to roll into balls (about 2 hours, or overnight).
5. Form the mice: Roll small pieces of dough into 1 ¼-inch ovals. Bring one side to a point to form nose. Gently pinch bridge of nose to form eye sockets. Place 2 sliced almonds behind eyes to make ears.
6. Place mice 2 inches apart on the parchment-covered cookie sheets, and bake until golden brown on bottom and edges (about 15 minutes).
7. Form the tails: Immediately insert skewer into the rounded side of the mouse about ½ inch deep. Remove skewer and insert a strip of licorice tail as far as it will go. The tail will melt a little and stick to the warm cookie. Pipe small eyes (black icing) and a small nose (pink icing) onto each mice (or use melted chocolate placed in a parchment cone; if you use melted chocolate to form eyes and nose, refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened).