The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 8: Memories of Christmas Cookie Baking
Inside: Fondly I’m reposting my memories of Christmas cookie baking. Feel free to enjoy with a glass of milk and some icing-glazed confections!
Baking With Granny
I never met a Christmas cookie I didn’t like. It’s true. That said, early on I had the opportunity. . .
Granny and baking. For those of us in the family, I don’t need to say anything more. You know the different choices you have when broiling a steak? Well, Gran applied that to baking, and she leaned toward the “well done” side of things. But she had the patience to roll out sugar cookie dough, break out her festive cookie cutters, and let us grandkids have at it. She also made powdered sugar icing and colored it with food coloring. Aside: One year she was out of red, and I remember her turning to me and saying, “If there’s a will, there’s a way.” She then proceeded to take a bowl of pickled beets from the refrigerator (she never had more than ten items in her fridge, nor did my other grandma, for some strange reason) and spoon out a little juice to color the icing. Believe it or not, you couldn’t taste the beets.
Year after year she’d hold this special day of cookie baking and decorating her trees–one an artificial green pine, the other one of those obnoxious silver aluminum jobs that every family owned in the late 60s and 70s. (Karl, do you remember that tree?) Mom and my aunts would drop off children, and while Granny wasn’t especially gifted with baking, she knew how to wrangle a group of kids and keep them on task until everything was done. All the while Bing crooned Christmas tunes in the background, compliments of her record player.
Good times, those were. . .
Cookie Creator?
In my early teen years I began clipping recipes and actually created my first recipe, which was a chocolate cookie, just in time for Christmas. I remember receiving rave reviews, but to be honest, I thought it was ho-hum. Don’t know if I still have a copy in my recipe box (remember those?) or not.
A few years later, I remember sampling from a container of assorted cookies some young newlyweds had made for my parents. (They didn’t have much money, so they baked cookies for gifts.) Within the confines of that decorative box sat the most delicious of Christmas cookies I’ve ever eaten. A wonderful round white ball that tasted of pecans with a dusting of powdered sugar, and there started a love affair that exists to this day. I didn’t know what they were called at the time, but I urged Mom to ask her young friend. “Russian Teacakes,” Rosalie told her. I must have asked for the recipe as well–no Internet to consult in those days–and from then on I have made them.
By the time I met my husband, with all of this baking experience (yeast breads included), I thought I was a pretty good cook.
And then I met my mother-in-law.
Making Cookies With Margaret
I wouldn’t say making cookies with my mother-in-law Margaret was fun. She was a perfectionist, and coming from Germany, our American ingredients just didn’t cut it. For one thing, they have this product over there she called vanilla sugar, and she had to go to a specialty store, with imported goods from her homeland, to buy it. She also didn’t like our butter. Margaret complained, saying that she and Oma (her mother) couldn’t understand why we Americans put salt in ours.
Still, with all the “bellyaching” as she called it, I sampled some really good cookies, one of which I’d place in my top five–Nutballs. (I’m attempting to remake the recipe so it will be Keto friendly. Tune in later this week.) Mike’s favorite they called Vanillas. You might know them as Vanilla Crescents. She also did some hazelnut cookies, but, sadly, her own recipes were lost when she passed away. Oh how I wish I had pressed her for them!
Cookies Through the Years
Since my early married days, I’ve baked cookies for Christmas for the family, for giving gifts, and for the people in my husband’s department. That last tradition started because Mike, when directing tv cameras during the Christmas service, would inevitably get so caught up in the Christmas production that he’d raise his voice and come across as irritated. So I would bake a large tin of Russian Teacakes for his volunteers as a way to soften the blow. (His people were great–they understood his, er, excitement.) The teacakes were much appreciated, despite the powdered sugar trail left behind by these wonderful cookies. At some point I started baking another recipe for Christmas production weekend that was a particular favorite of Mike’s. They’re called Chocolate-covered Cherry Cookies, but we loving referred to them as Atomic Cookies because the cherry gelatin called for in the recipe turns them a bright pinkish-red. In the last couple of years, though, I’ve filled in with break apart pre-made cookie dough. (Shh. . . Don’t tell.) I also use that for little gifts for delivery truck drivers who frequent the snowy roads in my neck of the woods around this time of year.
Nowadays I spend the week before Christmas doing most of my baking. This year I’m trying a couple of Keto cookie recipes for the Vanilla Crescents and the Russian Teacakes (aka Snowballs). Mom’s been baking as well and can’t wait to make her Gooey Butter Cake cookies, among other favorites. They’re pretty tasty, I must say.
Now you’ll have to excuse me. I’ve got some dough to mix up. (Or cookies to break apart.) Either way, I know they’ll be good.
What’s not to like? They’re Christmas cookies, for goodness sake!
Related posts:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 9: Nutballs 2019
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 8: Maple Walnut Fudge 2018
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 6: Peppermint Mocha Pie 2020
This year’s 12 Posts of Christmas:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Our Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2022
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Tortilla Cinnamon Rolls Revisited
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 3: A Truly Southern Christmas Essay
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 4: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman, a history
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 5: Christmas Ball Ornaments
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 6: Revisiting My Christmas Movie List
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 7: When Traditions Change
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 7: When Traditions Change
Inside: Some traditions last a lifetime, others for a season. It’s not always easy when traditions change. . .
When Traditions Change
About a week before Thanksgiving, I figured I’d better look up information on our favorite Christmas tree farm–Brushy Fork Pines. The last so many years it seemed they’d run out of trees after Black Friday weekend, so we changed up our routine and went Christmas tree shopping early. Then my tree sits in a bucket outside, waiting for about the second week of December until I am ready for it.
This year is different, though. The good people at Brushy Fork Pines hadn’t updated their Facebook Page. I happened to find some information about them on some obscure website about holiday activities in the area. Something seemed off about that.
The feeling follows me all the way there. Mom, Mike, and I get to the farm right as they open. They greet us with the usual, “Have you been here before?” But I notice there aren’t as many folks manning the bundling and shaking station like before.
We tell them yes, we have been coming a while, and Mike grabs a saw and we head back down the road to a perfect pine he spotted close to the entrance. That’s when he points to the realty sign. The property is for sale.
Back to the task at hand. After comparing the height of a few trees to Mike’s six-foot frame, we finally find ours. Mom decides pretty quickly on a small tree for her.
We bring our trees back to the barn–or, rather, Mom and Mike drag their trees as I take pictures of them. Once there, the friendly folks bundle and tag our trees. We go inside the store. I look for the hot chocolate machine, but they don’t have it out this year. Nor do they have the usual large white sheet with colored markers for people to write a message to the troops. They do have ornaments and decorations for sale, but not as many things as they did before. Something’s up.
The woman who runs the business with her husband (the “Have you been here before?” guy) seems preoccupied as she rings up purchases and chats with customers who, like us, have been coming here for a while. A few of us strike up a conversation as she tells us what’s going on.
They have to head back to their hometown to care for her husband’s parents. “They tell you that you can only be in the business for so long,” she says, and I can feel her sadness. They have fliers on the counter, explaining the details of the land for sale. She says the realtor wants to divide up the acreage, but they want to sell it to someone who will buy the entire property.
This is supposed to be a happy place, a place of delight. It’s so peaceful there on the hill, looking down over rows of pines, from baby tree to older, taller ones, all with a single purpose–to bring Christmas wonder to families.
Mom and I tell her we’ll pray with them that the right people will buy the land. All of it. She says they’re hoping maybe someone will buy it for a horse farm.
Back at the car, I say to Mom that I’ll be believing they can find some family that’s willing to take on the work of growing trees, to love this little tree farm and bringing so much Christmas joy to people in the surrounding towns.
“You like things to stay the same,” Mom says. And she’s right.
This is one Christmas tradition I’m hoping to keep.
At least for a little while longer.
Related posts:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 4: In Pursuit of Perfect Pines 2018
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 11: Our Family’s Christmas Eve Traditions 2019
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 11: Different Reasons, Different Seasons 2021
This year’s 12 Posts of Christmas:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Our Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2022
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Tortilla Cinnamon Rolls Revisited
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 3: A Truly Southern Christmas Essay
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 4: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman, a history
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 5: Christmas Ball Ornaments
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 6: Revisiting My Christmas Movie List
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 6: Revisiting My Christmas Movie List
Inside: Upon revisiting my Christmas movie list, I find my picks are mostly the same–with a few exceptions.
*This post contains affiliate links.
Revisiting my Christmas Movie List
I wrote this post five years ago, and while a couple of the movies that I listed in my top ten surprised me, most of them remain in the right order. I’d probably remove Jingle All the Way and Christmas with the Kranks, yet these are still movies I’d enjoy viewing. I’d probably replace one of these with The Man Who Invented Christmas, but I also feel like I’d have to give some thought to flicks that I’m just not remembering.
What Christmas movies would make your top ten?
The original post follows.
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I love a good Christmas movie! Often I’ll put a DVD on while I’m baking cookies or wrapping presents. Or writing posts. (I’m watching number eight as I type.)
Before we get to the list, a word about what you won’t find here. I’m not including television shows or cartoons, so no Rudolph or Grinch or Charlie Brown. (Not to worry, Charlie B. will make an appearance in these posts in a couple of days.) While I’m fond of these shows and catch them every year, I’m keeping this strictly to movies.
Also, most of these can be found in one of those large bins in stores like Walmart or other holiday displays, but for the rarer movies I’ll provide a link for more information. Here’s my list, starting with number ten and counting down to my all-time favorite.
10) Jingle All the Way. What parent hasn’t been on a frantic search to find the hot toy of the season? A flick with Arnold and Sinbad makes for great comedic chemistry and pretty much any line Arnold delivers is funny with that accent. It’s a cute story and good to have playing in the background while finishing up some last-minute Christmas task.
9) Elf. While I’m not a huge Will Ferrell fan, he does an amazing job of playing the wide-eyed, idealistic elf named Buddy, and it’s a fun story to watch–I’m picturing Buddy sitting on Papa Elf’s (Bob Newhart’s) lap. Always a treat to see Bob Newhart with his dry humor.
8) Home Alone. What happens when an eight-year-old boy is inadvertently left home alone during Christmas vacation and has to defend his house from a couple of burglars? I’m guessing most of you know, as this is a modern classic. Still, it’s fun to revisit. And even the small role John Candy has in the movie makes it all the better.
7) A Christmas Story. Poor Ralphie! All he wants is a genuine Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle, and it seems like none of the grownups around him think he should have it. If you’re like me you immediately recite the line–“You’ll shoot your eye out!” There is a lot to love about this movie. I like being transported back to 1940s Indiana, and the narrator enhances the telling of the story. Definitely worth viewing annually.
6) Christmas with the Kranks. We watched this when it first came out, and I liked it then, but when I watched it last year, I saw it in a new light. The difference? The first time our daughter was in high school. Last year’s viewing had me laughing at age-related things and the empty nester dilemma. Think I’m going to hunt it down on Prime or Netflix for another look.
5) Joyeux Noel. Turning to serious movies, my next choice is about the Christmas Eve truce during World War I. It’s quite moving–powerful, really. If you were following the comments from 12 Posts, Day 1, Cheryl Carter (aka Calen) had a link to a commercial that captures the event in a nutshell. Grab a hankie first. You’ll need it. And keep a box of tissues beside you when watching this film.
4) The Christmas Wish. I caught this for the first time last year, and it’s one of those movies that has stayed with me. It’s a mystery set during the Christmas season. A young business man (Neil Patrick Harris) comes home to settle his recently deceased grandfather’s business affairs and discovers some disturbing entries from his grandfather’s personal papers. Signs seem to point to his grandfather secretly taking up with another woman all the while playing the devoted husband. The young man had been raised by his grandparents because his mother and father had been killed in a car accident when he was small, which makes it all the more disturbing as he tries to keep the information from his grandmother, played by Debbie Reynolds. Quietly powerful.
3) The Nativity Story. Every year at our Christmas Eve gathering one of my family members (usually Emily) reads the Christmas story from the Bible, a tradition important to us. I like to watch this movie because it brings home the reason for the season in the same way. I highly recommend making the Christmas story a central part of your celebration, and this movie is a great place to start.
2) A Christmas Carol. What’s not to love? Scary ghost stories, a tale of redemption, Christmas in old London town. This story is endearing and has been adapted so many, many times I can’t begin to name them all. How many sitcoms have done some riff on this story over the years? Of the film versions, I am fond of all of them, including the Alastair Sim black-and-white version, but if I have to choose my favorite, it would be George C. Scott in the title role. I do manage to catch this every year in one form or another. I might
give Patrick Stewart’s Scrooge another look this year. Incidentally, if you have time to sneak off to the movies, give the new movie The Man Who Invented Christmas a try. I absolutely loved it! (Update: This movie is no longer in theaters, but you can purchase it.)
1) It’s a Wonderful Life. This movie doubles as both my top Christmas movie as well as my number one deserted island pick. You know the question–“If you were stuck on a deserted island and could have only one movie, what would it be?” So much to love about it–for one, Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. Another, a great plot. It’s the quintessential “everyman” story, and a slice of Americana all rolled up together. It’s full of symbolism and makes you feel good. What else can I say?
So there you have it. My list. I’ll be watching some of these this week while I finish wrapping presents and make my spiced nuts. A perfect way to mark the season as we continue our countdown to Christmas!
Related posts:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 8: Spending Christmas with Charlie 2017
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 6: Of Hair Combs and Watch Chains 2019
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 8: A Couple of Misfits 2019
The year’s 12 Posts of Christmas:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Our Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2022
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Tortilla Cinnamon Rolls Revisited
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 3: A Truly Southern Christmas Essay
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 4: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman, a history
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 5: Christmas Ball Ornaments
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 5: Christmas Ball Ornaments
Inside: Beautiful and simple, these Homespun Christmas Ball Ornaments are some of my favorites, so I wanted to share them with you again.
Homespun Christmas Ball Ornaments
So this year when it came time to decide our Christmas DIY project, Mom and I had something else entirely in mind. We had set out to make a garland with strips of cloth, but it seemed like the parts of the project weren’t falling into place, and we were running into time issues–that last-minute thing again. Fortunately she’d seen some homespun Christmas ball ornaments and thought we should maybe try that. She’d picked up the Styrofoam balls and some fat quarters of festive fabric. Between us we had various yarn, twine, ribbon, and raffia.
The first day we were slow to get started, trying to figure out the best way to work. Mom had put one ball ornament together at home with green plaid material, and so we spent the next several hours deciding between colors, fabric, and design for the rest of them. I cut strips of cloth (8 inch by 1/2 inch), and she patiently glued them around the balls with a homemade solution of watered down clear Elmer’s glue, 1 part water, 1 part glue, that she coated the strips with. Modge Podge would have probably made our lives easier, but sometimes you have to improvise. By the end of the first day, we had five balls fashioned and drying on paper. Note: I grabbed scrap paper that happened to be yellow, and while it didn’t hurt the dark colors, the dye from the paper bled on to the white balls. So don’t use newspaper or colored paper. White scrap paper only.
Several days passed before we got back with the project. In the days between I had tea dyed one of the white balls by making a strong cup of tea, letting it cool completely, and then taking a paper towel and dabbing the tea on to the dried white ball. Once it was covered to my liking, I set it to dry again. When we reconvened (sounds official when I say that), we attached various ribbon, twine, and yarn on the balls. For the four colored balls, our biggest challenge was how to create a loop for hanging. We ended up using a glue gun to hold ribbon and twine in place, and we covered up the hanging loops by creating bows to glue over top. These are so light that it definitely works.
A Riff on the White Ball Ornaments
We did a few things differently on the white and tea-dyed ornaments. On the white ball I cut a strip of ribbon that has a burlap look to it, but I imagine actual burlap would work just as well. I glued this around the equator and tied a piece of raffia on top of that and fashioned a bow and glued a button on top of that. I used a white flat thumbtack to wrap a piece of raffia around and created a loop for hanging.
On the tea-dyed ball I took a piece of thin twine and just went to town on it, wrapping and gluing it little by little with just clear Elmer’s glue, going this way and that around the ball, ending with a loop–all the same long piece of twine. But it looked like it needed something more. Inspiration struck–thank you, God!–and I wrapped an additional small piece of twine around the bottom of the loop three times, and it just popped!
All in all, I think they turned off pretty well!
How to Make ‘Em
You will need:
- 6 – 2.4 in foam balls
- 8 – 9 strips of fabric per ball (strips 8 in. x 1/2 in.)
- Assorted ribbon, twine, yarn, and raffia
- Button
- Tea for dying (if making the tea-dyed ornament)
- Elmer’s glue
- Hot glue gun and sticks
Directions
- Place fabric strips (coated in 1 part Elmer’s glue, 1 part water mixture) top to bottom around the ball until it’s covered. Allow to dry.
- Fashion ribbon around the balls in various patterns and glue in place with glue gun. (See pictures for inspiration.)
- Attach loop on top and cover with a bow of the same ribbon.
- For tea-dyed ornament, make a strong cup of tea, allow to cool, and then dab on to a dried ball made with white strips. Take a long piece of twine and begin gluing it in place with Elmer’s glue, little by little, because you’ll need to hold it in place with your fingers for a few minutes before continuing. End with a loop, and then add an additional small piece to wrap around the base of the loop.
- For the other white ball, glue a strip of burlap-like ribbon (or burlap!) that’s 1-inch wide, around the equator. Tie a piece of raffia on top of that and fashion a bow and glue a button on top of that. Place a white flat thumbtack on top and wrap a piece of raffia around it, making a knot on top, creating a loop for hanging.
- Have fun making our homespun Christmas ball ornaments!
Related posts:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 10: Jute Basket Ornament 2020
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 10: Simple Ornaments 2017
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 6: Simple Wreath Ornaments 2018
This year’s 12 Posts of Christmas:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Our Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2022
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Tortilla Cinnamon Rolls Revisited
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 3: A Truly Southern Christmas Essay
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 4: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman, a history