We're going to have some friends come over, they're going to help us decorate,

友達も一緒です

And I'm going to teach you the recipe for the classic sugar Christmas cookie.

レシピもお教えします！

[Life in Japan Theme Song]

パパ！

Daddy! Daddy!

すごい！

Oh my goodness!

今日は2人だね！

There's two kindergarteners today!

エイデン！

Hi Aiden! Hi!

幼稚園は？

How was school? Oh thank you!

楽しかった

Good.

エイデンは初めてだね

Aiden, you're finally coming to our house! How cool is that?!

毎日見るの

He likes to check it everyday.

郵便好き

Yea, I like getting mail.

リビングだよ

This is where everybody hangs out.

盾もあるよ！

You can use this shield too.

盾を狙って！

Hit it! Hit the shield!

守るんだよ

It's going to protect you!

防御だよ

See! It protects you!

楽しそう

Very excited kids!

クッキーの準備です

Going to get the cookies all ready to decorate.

アイシングも？

Or all the icings ready, huh?

色付きよ

Yeah, and then I've got to color it.

友達と一緒に クッキーのデコレーションです！

We love to have friends over to enjoy the last step of making cookies,

ジョシュアの友達と 家族と一緒です

decorating them with frosting and sprinkles.

明日は最初から作ります

Today we'll be decorating cookies with Joshua's friend and his family,

すごい！

but tomorrow we'll start the process from the very start so you can learn how to do it.

どうぞ ママ

Incredible!

- 素敵だわ - 本当に！

Dozo mama!

ツリーを作るわよ

It's good therapy. Oh my goodness!

スマイル作る！

OK I'm going to do a Christmas tree.

いいね！

I'm doing a happy face. A happy face?!

- パパ 見て！ - カッコいい！

That's a good idea.

いいツリーだね！

Look at this, Daddy. Wow, cool dude!

難しい？

Oh that's a good looking Christmas tree! We've got two of them!

スプリンクルです

Is it hard? No.

少しね

Gotta have some sprinkles.

- ワーオ！ - ジョシュア 使いすぎよ！

Just some.

フロスティングのせてる！

Whoa! Oh my goodness Joshua!

どれ？

He's putting frosting on his!

チョコボールにかけてるんだね

Oh is he?

ジャンプ！

Oh, he's putting frosting on his... Fudge balls!

ママが夕食の準備です

Big jump!

子供はダンスです

Mommy's making some dinner here... Here you go.

ジョシュアはもう食べたそう

Kids are doing some dances.

クッキーを作るには まずバターです

Joshua's like "Yes, chomp chomp! I'm going to eat."

バターは良いですよね

OK, so for the sugar cookies first of all you're going to need one cup of butter.

砂糖を1カップと4分の1

Mmmm, everything's better with butter.

ハンドミキサーでも代用できます

A cup and a fourth of sugar.

かき混ぜていきます

You can do this with just a hand mixer if you don't have a huge Kitchen Aid mixer like I do.

卵を1つ

Beat those together, cream them.

凄いテクニック！

And add in one egg.

うらやましい

Look at that egg technique, oh!

バニラを小さじ1杯

Enviable.

よく擦ります

And a teaspoon of vanilla.

完全に混ぜます

OK, give the bowl a good scrape.

小麦粉とベイキングパウダーを加えます

Make sure it all mixes.

小麦粉3カップ

Now we're going to add our dry ingredients which are our flour and baking powder.

測ります

So we need three cups of flour,

小麦粉半カップの代わりに コーンスターチを入れます

Pat and scrape.

膨らみを抑えてくれます

A secret tip: I took out a half a cup of flour and I'm going to add half a cup of corn starch

次はベーキングパウダー

It helps the cookies not spread so much when they're baking.

1杯半です

Now I need baking powder.

塩を少々

One and a half.

お菓子にも塩は大事です 味を調えてくれます

Then a little bit of salt.

では混ぜます！

Don't forget to always put salt in your sweets. It helps balance out that flavor.

混ざったら取り出して 2つに分けて シートに乗せます

OK, now we mix it. And that is the dough.

冷蔵庫に10分入れます

Then once it's all put together, we're going to roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper.

生地が冷えてると 簡単に切り抜けます

And stick it in the refrigerator for about ten minutes.

良く取ります

To get it nice and cold. It's easier to cut out the shapes if the dough is nice and cold.

完全に混ぜます

Give it a good wipe down.

完成です

Wipe down the sides, make sure everything is incorporated.

生地作りは簡単 でも子供は大好きです

And we are done!

クッキーは皆に配ります でないと子供が完食しちゃいます

It's a very easy dough, but the kids just love decorating it.

形を変えやすいです

We end up giving away most of the cookies because if they stay at home, the kids will eat them all.

次の作業です

It's very moldable, it's kind of like play dough.

キッチンペーパーです

But anyway, we're going to go into the other room to open it up.

生地を2つに分けます

Got my parchment paper.

一度にします

So you're going to divide the dough into — about in half.

好みの厚さにします

Do half at a time.

薄すぎると 割れやすくなります

You can roll it out as thick or as thin as you want

でも沢山作れます

If they're too thin, they easier to break when you're transferring them.

クリスマスクッキー作り 何年目？

But then you get more cookies, so it's kind of a... tossup.

やだ！

How many years have you been making Christmas cookies?

2歳の時からよ

Oh man!

ママから教わったの

Probably since I was 2 with my mom!

冷蔵庫に入れましょう

Everything I learned I learned from my mom.

明日デコレーションする？

That one's ready to be refrigerated.

多分ね

[Sarah laughs]

端は薄くなりがちなので

Mommy? Tomorrow are we going to decorate it?

同じ厚みになるようにしましょう

Maybe, I don't know.

これはいい感じです

Your edges will tend to get thinner than the middle

トレイに置きます

So make sure you keep everything the same size.

冷蔵庫に15分入れます

OK, that feels about even on all sides,

少し待ちましょう

Now place them on a serving tray.

クッキー作りの準備はいい？

Stick them in my fridge for about 15 minutes.

もう食べれる！

OK, we'll be back in about 15 minutes.

まず作らないと

Intermission

出しましょう

Are you guys ready to cut out some sugar-cookies-Christmas-cookies goodness?

イエーイ！

I'm ready to eat the cookies!

こう切るのよ

Oh well, you have to make them first!

OK

OK, let's pull this out.

こんな感じ

Yeah!

- 少し捻るの - 出来ないよ

OK, now try to lift it out of there like that.

出来てきたね

OK Whoa

- 出来た！ - サラ 上手だね

Like this... you go like this

アナはチョコボール？

And you squeeze it together. I can't do it.

ジョシュアと私の仕事

Whoa, it's going good there.

上手ね サラ

I did it! There you go, Sarah!

冷蔵庫に入れるわ

Anna, you're working on the fudge balls?

冷蔵庫？

This is Joshua and my job.

柔らかすぎるから

Good job, Sarah.

生地を切る時に出すわ

In the fridge.

ごめんね

It all goes back in the fridge?

- 丁度いい大きさにね - これ小さいかも

Between each one, or it's too soft

180度に予熱します

Yeah, every time you roll out a dough.

10-12分入れます

Excuse me, sir. Excuse me.

端がこんがりするまでです

Not so tiny, not so big: normal. I think this is too tiny.

焼き過ぎに注意です

You'll preheat the oven to 180 degrees (C)

硬くなり過ぎないようにしましょう

And you'll put in the cookies for about 10-12 minutes.

焼きあがったら

Until the edges start turning a little bit light brown.

アイシングの前に 冷ましましょう

You don't want to over bake them, because then they'd be crunchy.

アイシングは 粉砂糖と少量の水です

Unless you like crunchy cookies, then leave them in there a little longer.

均一になるまで混ぜます

Once the sugar cookies come out of the oven,

混ざったら分けます

You need to make sure they cool completely before you ice them.

食紅を加えます

Then to make the icing, all it is is powdered sugar and a tiny bit of water.

次は子供の番です！

You just go mixing in the water until you get to the consistency that you want.

サラのお気に入り？

Once you get to that consistency, then you can divide up your batches of frosting

チョコチップ入れるとこ？

And add different food colors in it to make different colors of frostings.

しっかり持って

And then let the kids have at it!

そこよ！

Ah Sarah, is this one of your favorite parts here?

良く出来たわね

Putting the chocolate chips in?

アナが終わったら 生地を一つにします

Ok, now hold it tight, tight!

何回混ぜて冷蔵庫に？

There! There, good job!

生地の大きさによるかしら

Hang on. There you go, good job.

5回かしら… いや…

We're going to wait until Anna's done because we're going to role it all together in one dough this time.

7-8回ね

How many times do you roll and refrigerate and repeat?

ベッカ！パパに サッカーのゲーム見せよう！

It all depends on how big you role it out the first time.

アナ！アナちゃん！

So probably about five times — well, no.

前はマットがあったけど

Seven. Seven or eight times.

今は遊べる！

How to make popcorn.

いくよ！

First, plug this in.

投げるよ！

Open it.

私は高く投げれないの

Put this in about one and a half turns

キャノンボール！行け！

And then you put 1/3 cup of popcorn in 2 times

いい音

One

塩をまぶす音？

Two

その音！

Put the lid on.

パパにもくれる？

Then wait until it's all done.

私！

Are we good up to this point?

僕は？

Good?

翌日 サラの友達が クッキー作りに来ました

There's still more to do, so come back in 5-10 minutes.

サラの友達と クリスマスクッキー作りです！

Becca, let's show Daddy the soccer game! Daddy, look at the soccer game!

クッキー作りは大変ですが 友達とシェアする喜びは大きいです

Anna! Anna chan! Anna!

ミノリちゃんからプレゼント？

Before, we had a mattress here so we couldn't play,

手作りね！

But now... Cannonball!!!!

- ベッカとアナは？ - 人形劇！

Start!

- 何するの？ - 人形劇

Up the hallway...

- 人形劇？ - 手袋で

I can reach it because I don't really throw so high.

いいね

Cannonball! Up the hallway!

面白い！

I think it's ready!

あっち行って！

Turn it around,

もう1回いい？

And then you burp...

特別なお知らせです！

And then you put it in a big bowl...

2週間でクリスマスです！

There's so much stuck! I'll help.

家族初のライブ配信をします！

Hot! Hot! Hot!

プレゼントを開けたり クリスマスストーリーをシェアします！

And this two times...

12月25日（金）の19時からです！

So good!

クッキーに挑戦された方がいたら 写真を見せて下さい！

I like the noise.

インスタかコメント欄でお願いします

You like the sound of the salt?

また次回お会いしましょう！

I lik the noise!

バイバーイ！

And then you do this!

And then you eat!

Is it good? It's good.

And then you do Mario Kart with Joshua!

Can somebody bring a bowl for Daddy chan?

Me! Yea!!

What about me?!

The next day Sarah's wish came true and her friend came over to decorate the cookies with her.

OK, we're making Christmas cookies with Sarah's good friend, Minori chan.

Sarah, do you understand Japanese? I understand.

Joshua, do you understand Japanese? I do.

OK, open it! You got a present from Minori chan?!

You made it? Yes.

She made those!

Becca and Anna... Puppet show!

What are you guys going to do? A puppet show.

A puppet show? With gloves.

OK, let's see.

Showtime!

I'm hungry! Brother, do you have something to eat?

Nope.

OK, let's go shop!

How can I help you?

Oh! I want this cake!

Please sit over here.

What would you like?

Sour cake, please!

This is so funny!

They want a sour cake. OK

What will sour cake taste like?

Maybe grape?

Go away!

Here's your sour cake.

What flavor do you think it is, brother?

Maybe strawberry, you think?

Wow, I hope it's grape.

What is it?

Ah! SOUR! AH!

I'm a grandpa! I've turned into a grandpa!

AH!

The End — thanks for watching!

Can we do it one more time?

Hey everybody! We have a special announcement!

In two weeks it's Christmas,

We're going to do our very first livestream as a family!

Open Christmas presents, tell the Christmas story, have lots of fun!

So mark your calendar for 7:00PM, Japan Standard Time on Friday, December 25 so you can join us live!

Hey, and if you tried any of these cookies, we'd love to see the pictures of how it turned out.

Send it to our instagrams, or comment below.

And until next time, we'll see you on Life in Japan. Everybody...

Bye bye!!