Hello everyone! We are Liz & Jewels with another episode of Food In Motion! Every month on decor8 we want to show you a video with a beautiful recipe that we like. Since we began in March we've alternated months, so I take one month and Jewels takes the next... This month we have a special Christmas gift for you! The concept of our blog is that we challenge eachother every week: We cook, style and photograph the same recipe on two continents. Liz in Muenster, Germany and Jewels in Brooklyn, USA. So for this Food in Motion episode we exchanged a christmas cookie recipe and we both made the cookies at the same time! We didn't know what the other one was up to and were thrilled when we saw eachother's films! Jewels (and her dog Lola!) made a darker version of the "Almond Sugar Cookies" in Brooklyn, sprinkling them with black and gold sugar (which she had never heard or seen of!) and I called the kids together and had a fun, but also a little bit crazy afternoon, baking a more colorful version of the same cookies in my German home. We've combined both very short videos into one below, so please watch it and let us know what you think.

Liz: The kids just loved helping. Putting on aprons, washing hands, kneading the dough, selecting the cookie cutters…. But the best part was decorating them! They just loved the colorful sprinkles and couldn't wait to use them. It was a little bit tough baking, keeping an eye on the cookies and on the three cuties, but it was worth it and they had tons of fun!

Jewels: My dog Lola volunteered to help my with the baking of the cookies, but I thought that lovely friend Kristen was a better choice. Lola kept a close eye on us though, to make sure we would follow the recipe to the tee. The three of us a had a beautiful, calm afternoon because my husband had taken our baby Clementine out with him. It probably was a bit more quiet than Liz' kids afternoon, but isn't it great how one recipe can have two so different outcomes? I made the darker, more "Brooklyn style" version of sugar cookies, but they tasted great and we all loved them. And of course - one moment of not paying attention and Lola got her share of cookies, too. She loved them!

Almond Sugar Cookies 1 3/4 sticks of cold butter 1/3 cups of sugar pinch of salt 1 egg 3/4 cups ground almonds 1 1/3 cups of flour

Toppings powdered sugar colorful sprinkles or colored sugar

 How To: With an electric mixer, cream butter, salt and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg. Gradually add the flour and the ground almonds, beat until combined. Place the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Roll out the dough on flour dusted kitchen counter and cut shapes with cookie cutters. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool before decorating.

We wish all readers around the world wonderful holidays and thank you so much for all your great feedback, inspiration and warm words during our Food in Motion time this year on decor8! See you in 2014!

Liz & Jewels

(images/video: liz & jewels)