I blame my grandmother.  Growing up, I don’t think I can remember a single time I was ever in her house that I wasn’t offered something from her ever-present tin of Danish butter cookies.  And my mom makes excellent shortbread.  So, I was pretty well doomed, because the Austrians also love butter cookies.  Mainly at Christmastime.  Well, look at that!  It’s Christmastime!

And, I dare say, I like the Austrian cookies even better than the Danish ones.  (But not better than my mom’s shortbread.  Just for the record.)

There are bakeries all over Vienna.  They take baking very seriously here.  Baking and coffee.  (I knew I belonged here.)  I walk past 3 different places selling butter cookies on the way to drop B at school, and past the same 3 on the way back.  I’ve held off for a few weeks, since the deliciously tempting treats made their first appearance this year.  But yesterday, we were out of coffee at home, so I stopped on my way back from dropping B at school for a melange . . .and 16 Euro worth of butter cookies.

I was just going to buy a few.  Just enough for a treat for after lunch.  Just enough to show Jo how great Austrian Christmas butter cookies are.  But then, there was this box.  It was a package of a variety of types of butter cookies — it included all of my favorites and some I’d *never seen before*.  I didn’t have a chance.

They weren’t all for me.  They were to bring home and SHARE.  I bought them, and managed to wait a few hours for indoctrinating Jo into the joy of Austrian butter cookies.  We had a few (just to try them).  We had some after lunch.  I had a few in the afternoon.  We had some after dinner — the kids actually got some, too (as did Dan).  I had some with a cup of tea before bed.

They lasted 24 hours.

I’m so glad they only come out at Christmas.