Enjoying Holiday Cookies
I know there are people who go “hog wild” over the holidays. Folks who spend tons of time decorating and spreading holiday cheer. I appreciate those folks and their enthusiasm, however; I wouldn’t really classify myself as one of those people. However, I still enjoy the heck out of the holiday season in my own ways and I’d love to share those in the coming days.
The cookie baking of the holiday season is something I enjoy immensely. It’s something I inherited honestly from my grandmother and father. I had a 20 minute conversation with my dad just last night about the cookies each of us were baking this holiday season.
Watching Jeff sneak around the corner to sample the still warm from the oven cookie goodness never ceases to make me smile. Packing them up in boxes for shipping and baskets for local giving is something I anticipate with my excitement each and every year. Watching people receive them with such gladness certainly adds to the holiday cheer, too. And while I make cookies all year-round for every occasion under the sun, holiday cookie baking takes on a special spirit that makes the holidays even more special to me.
Do tell, is cookie baking a favorite part of the holidays for you? If not, baking how about receiving said cookies?
Yes! Our family has a long standing tradition of Christmas cookie baking, which we all do individually at different levels before we spend one Saturday before the holiday doing our annual cookie bake. Each person brings some of what they’ve already done (if they have managed to find time), and all the ingredients for the cookies they are baking that day. Then we talk and laugh and drink mimosas and bake till we can’t stand the idea of eating cookies anymore! Too fun! Anyway, we divvy up the goodies and each family goes home with lots of treats and the memory of another year spent together before Christmas. This year, I’m donating most of the stuff we bring home to our local women’s shelter, because I think it would be super hard to spend Christmas without homemade cookies!
I bake sugar cookies using my grandma’s recipe. In my family, that has been a traditon since before I was born. This year I’ve received a bounty of cookies, candy and breads from students. I won’t need to bake anything else!
Yes, cookie baking is definitely a big part of our holiday tradition. We don’t normally give gifts but I always bake a few batches for some customers and friends.
I think I enjoy baking at other times of year more than I do at the holidays–no time pressure. (I woke up today and thought “Oh my goodness, it’s the last knitting class before the holidays and I haven’t made the cookie plate yet!”) But it’s such a great excuse to bake new and different creations.
For me the best part is decorating the sugar cookies. It’s something that my son and I still do each year.
A resounding yes to both. I love it when people share baked goodies, and we always make a bunch too. Our big batch this year is of my husband’s Grandma’s Melt in Your Mouth cookies–we’re the only ones who were able to get them “right” (not hard, just follow the recipe and measure carefully) and since Grandma passed on last Dec. the whole extended family asked us to make them this year.
Yes! There are some cookies that only happen at Christmastime for us, and we look forward to them all year long. When they finally appear in the cookie tin, we know the holidays have arrived.
In addition to cookies there is also a long-cherished “white rose fruitcake” recipe handed down through my dad’s family, and now I am the one to make it on special years. Though fruitcake is one of those things that people seem to either love or hate, our family loves this one and it’s special aromatics that are like no other. Like Helena’s comment, it’s not necessarily difficult, but there are a lot of special ingredients and they must be measured precisely or you get a really smelly, inedible mess! Thank goodness for these wonderful baking traditions that connect us with family and friends and such wonderful memories. Great post, Kathie.
Sweet baked treats are part of our regular routine. During the holidays, we tend to bake sweets making my effort more appreciated by the menfolk in my house. This year I am baking even more as I try to make most of my gifts homemade this year.
In our house, my husband has a favorite cookie recipe that he makes. Welsh cookies are a raisin griddle cookie. He makes about 5 batches. We take these to our church’s holiday bake sale, a friend’s solstice celebration and our stomachs.
Last year I didn’t bake a single Christmas cookie and I thought it was OK because no one in my house said anything about ‘where’s the cookies?’ But I missed them, so I managed to squeeze in 4 or 5 kinds and it was worth it. I have them in storage on the dining room table and 2 containers are empty already.