the streak

You might be surprised to learn that Ray Stevens is one of my all-time favorite singer-songwriters. When I was but a wee lass, I listened to his greatest hits cassette tape (remember those?) until it no longer functioned.

Mississippi Squirrel Revival. (Spoiler: The squirrel went berserk.) The Dooright Family. It's Me Again, Margaret. Gitarzan. Everything is Beautiful. I could just go on and on. Another of his ditties that I can still sing to this day is The Streak.

He ain't rude,
He ain't lewd,
He's just in the mood to run in the nude

I so often feel that way. If you're unfamiliar with the man (and most of you probably are) and in need of a chuckle, check him out! He also did a cover of I'm My Own Grandpa, which is simply one of the most hilarious and ingenious songs ever written.

Speaking of streaks (brace yourselves for a tremendous segue!), I'm pretty excited about these streaky sugar cookies. All I did was take regular sugar cookie dough, split it into 3 hunks, dye each hunk a different color, then knead and roll. Isn't it a nifty effect? Have fun with it--every cookie in every batch you make will be unique!

(Oh yes, they call him the) Streak Sugar Cookies
Makes about 5 dozen cookies
Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Various food colorings or gels

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until it is smooth.
Beat in the eggs and the vanilla.
Stir in the flour, baking powder and the salt.
Divide the dough into four portions, shape each into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour (or overnight).
Remove one disk of dough from the fridge and split it into three balls.
Add the food coloring to each of the dough balls, kneading it in just until desired color is achieved.
Briefly knead the three colors together so that a swirl effect is obtained. Don't go too crazy or you'll end up with brown dough.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
Roll out the now-colored dough (on a floured surface) so that it is 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick.
Cut the dough into shapes with any cookie cutter.
Place the cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake them for 6 to 8 minutes in a preheated oven. Cool them completely, then frost as desired.