Christmas seems to get more and more hectic each year when you have a family. Shopping, decorating, lists, baking, Christmas cards, wrapping, watching your budget, crafting, and all of the other little things we do to make the season special for our families.
While our kids and spouses get to sit back and enjoy the season, we rush and run around to create more magic, more, More..MORE!! ~laughs~ It gets a little harried, but I have one thing I do that I look forward to every year. Each year around this time, I start cookbook shopping. Not an ordinary book, but a big old thick cookbook with a nice hardback cover that I can really curl up with.
I really enjoy looking over my different options, reading reviews, pondering the pros of this one or that…and then I finally make my decision. I always order it by mail (Usually Amazon.com) so that it arrives sealed up in a box. Here is the important part: I do not open that box! I wrap it the day it comes in and place it beneath the tree with my name on it.
The remaining weeks are spent with me casting longing glances beneath the tree and looking forward to Christmas morning where I unwrap my prize and spend the better part of that day curled up in the recliner leisurely flipping through pages, enjoying my new toy as my kids enjoy theirs.
For two of the past few years, those books have been from King Arthur Flour. I love cookbooks, but it takes a lot for me to get really excited over one. There are four cookbooks in print right now that I trust completely. I own two King Arthur Flour cookbooks, so they hold two of those places!
You know how you see a new recipe, want to take it to an event, but feel you need to “try it out” first to make sure it tastes good? My favorite cookbooks are the ones which I trust completely, they require no trials or testing. You can choose a recipe and make it for the very first time to take to a grand event and know it will be perfect and loved by all. That’s how King Arthur recipes are.
The two King Arthur books I have (and love) are The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook
and the The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook
. Ready for the exciting news?
The incredibly kind folks at King Arthur flour are going to give one of my reader’s their very own Cookie Companion! All you have to do to enter is post in the comments your favorite Holiday memory or activity. It can be a one line post or a few paragraphs, whichever you prefer! In one week, I will choose a number at random and the poster of the corresponding comment will win this fabulous cookbook in time for holiday baking!
This cookbook is the essential guide on cookies. Just for sugar cookies alone there are 15 recipes and at least as many for our beloved chocolate chip! Each recipe features an introduction which describes the cookie texture and flavor..allowing you to choose exactly the type you are looking for with ease and confidence.
I still haven’t chosen my cookbook for this year. I need to pay another visit to King Arthur Flour’s site…
Now on to these delicious cookies…
My son has always loved the sugar cookies they sell in the malls. He calls them “sprinkle cookies” because they are covered in colorful sprinkles. I made these for the first time a few years back and he was elated when he came home from school. He actually thought I had been to the mall just to buy him cookies! They taste so wonderful and really beg to be dunked into a glass of milk. These are classic Santa cookies! You won’t believe the texture. When you pick them up, they feel like a regular cookie, but biting in reveals a tender chewiness unlike any other.
You’ll need: unsalted butter, sugar, brown sugar, light corn syrup, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, egg, all purpose flour, and decorating sugars for coating.
The original recipe also calls for 1/4 tsp nutmeg or 1/4 tsp lemon oil and states that it is optional. I don’t know why I’ve never liked nutmeg, but I’ve always left it out whenever it was called for or substituted cinnamon. In this case, I just left it out. I don’t have lemon oil so I left that out as well. I tend to not buy anything that I don’t normally have on hand anyway. I just don’t like to buy things for one use because….well mainly because I am cheap. But then again y’all already know that by all of the great value brand items you see in the pic!
I want to apologize for not using King Arthur Flour in this! I always use King Arthur when making yeast breads and it has been proven to be a superior flour than others. I love King Arthur, but don’t always get to the store that sells a good selection to buy it! Hey, I DID buy real butter for this recipe though! (Don’t tell on me, but I usually just use margarine…shh!)
Place butter in bowl.
Now folks, from here on out you will be seeing me make a DOUBLE version of this recipe. However, the recipe at the bottom is for a single version. Y’all know me..if three dozen is good, six dozen is GREAT!
Add in white and brown sugar as well as light corn syrup.
~insert tangent here~
We always use Karo brand corn syrup. My daughter’s name is Katy Rose and that has become her nickname as well. I do get strange looks when I’m out and talking to my Karo though…
Hey, Southerners are known for nicknaming everyone they love. I think I’ve mentioned my nickname ages ago but for those of you who missed it…
My entire family calls me “Poochie”, and I even answer to it. My friend, Michael, has always called me that as well. (Michael says I do not talk about him enough on here…Michael Romine - teaches Marketing to high school students - in high school he was like 6′4″ and weighed about eighty pounds soaking wet. I called him string bean then 
Feeling the love now, Michael?)
Anyway, I got my nickname when my brother came to see me after I was born in the hospital. He took one look at me, spit on me, and said I was ugly and looked like a Poochie Dog. Only in the south would that moment offer up a nickname considered a term of endearment!
Add vanilla.
Add eggs…
Mix that up well.
Add in flour.
You should probably do this gradually but I have the patience of a gnat so I just dump it all in at once.
Mix that up well…until it looks like this!
If you don’t take a pinch of this to taste you aren’t living, this dough is heavenly!
Have one of your kids dump the entire bottle of red sprinkles into a bowl.
They’ll think this is cool. They think they don’t get to dump things out enough.
Add the green as well and stir. Or have them stir..I’m using my son for this because Karo is taking a nap.
Brady said to be sure and show y’all this and to tell you that it is a smiley face, just in case you couldn’t tell.
Preheat your oven to 375 and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Roll dough into one inch balls…or one inch-ish.
and then let your kidders roll them in the sugars.
like this.
Place about two inches or so apart on a cookie sheet.
Like this.
Bake for ten minutes and then remove.
Let cool on cookie sheet for five minutes and then remove to cooling racks (or platters) to continue cooling.
My grandmother’s best friend, Miss Millie, called my mother to tell her I had gotten my nails done and they looked “so pretty”! ~laughs~ Thanks, Millie! I decided to treat myself. Miss Millie is my second grandmother and she reads Southern Plate every day!
Y’all say “Hi” to Miss Millie in your comments!
The Essential Chewey Sugar Cookie
3/4 Cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/4 Cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg or 1/4 tsp lemon oil (optional, your choice - I left both of these out)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
1/4 cup coarse or granulated sugar, for decorating
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, granulated and brown sugars, corn syurup, vanilla, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and egg. Stir in flour.
Place coarse sugar in shallow dish. Drop dough by tablespoonfull (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) into sugar, rolling the balls to coat them. Place on prepared baking sheets. (We just dig out hands in the dough, grab a bit, and roll it up in a ball - I’ve never owned a cookie scoop!)
Bake cookies for ten minutes until the edges are just barely beginning to brown, they’ll look soft. If you bake these cookies too long, they’ll be crunch rather than chewy. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely.
Don’t forget to leave a comment about your favorite holiday memory to be entered to win the cookbook!!!
Don’t forget to sign up for my email newsletter to receive printer friendly versions of each recipe featured on Southern Plate. Terri says I need to mention the cookbook free shipping special again, too.. ~points to sidebar up near top~
Halloween is my best friend’s birthday, so every October 31 was devoted to parties with painted pumpkins, trick or treating in large groups, candysorting, it was good.
I have many memories of baking and decorating “cut out” sugar cookies at Christmas with Mom and my brother and sisters. My mom was an excellent cook and we usually made “goody boxes” full of all sorts of baked goods to deliver on Christmas Eve to shut-ins or family friends. I have tried to carry this tradition on with my own children. One of my other favorite activities is our Christmas Eve tradition of attending our church Candlelight Communion then taking the kids on a drive to look at Christmas lights. I LOVE Christmas and all the traditions that go along with it!
My favorite Christmas memory is of the stockings that my southern grandmother crocheted for us. Even though she is no longer with us, I still have and use mine from my childhood. Before she passed, she made me two extras; one for my future husband and one for my first child. They now use theirs and I am crocheting another for my second child since she taught me how to make them. Each year when I see them hanging on my fireplace, it brings back such wonderful memories of watching her crochet and listening to her stories.
My favorite Christmas memory was having my Grandpa read the story of the baby Jesus out of the bible. To hear his voice tell the story was amazing and so humbling. I long to hear his voice again as he has been gone for 6 years now.
My favorite Christmas memory (that I did not even catch on to until I was older) is always having presents under the tree. We lived out of state for a few years, when I was young, before I even started school. We would always travel the 8 or 9 hours home to be with family for the holidays. We were always gone on Christmas day and we were always worried that Santa would not find us if we were not home. There were 3 little girls (me and my sisters) and dogs making the trip so we always left at night. My dad worked overnights so he would drive and we would sleep and I suppose this kept my parents sane. Right before we pulled out of the driveway, my parents would always go back into the house because they always “forgot” something. They would come back out with some obscure item. We would go to our holidays, come home and have tons of presents from Santa under the tree. Now I understand. They kept all our presents hidden and made that one last trip in the house to put our presents under the tree.
My favorite christmas memory is when my parents bought me my first bike. I was so excited and I put hundreds of miles on it. It was yellow with a little plastic basket and long pink strings that hung down from the handlebars. I can’t wait to make those memories for my little boy.
My favorite memory is baking and decorating sugar cookies with my Mother.Waking up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning and just staring in amazement at all the presents. Those were truly happy times and memories that I will treasure always.
One of my favorite memories is filling up a thermos with hot cocoa, and heading out for an evening drive to see all the Christmas lights. I remember as a kid looking at all the twinkling lights with awe and wonder. I still go out with my son and still have the same sense of awe.
We were teenagers when Momma decided to start baking cookies. Momma is the Microwave Queen. So this really took us all by surprise. She kept doubling and tripling the recipes because she said it didn’t make that much. She had 7-8 different recipes she wanted to make.
We wound up with so many cookies that Our entire chirstmas gift list was sick of them and we still had leftovers for a month! I smile when I think of it.
Brittainy S
My favorite Christmas memory is picking out an ornament for each of my children. Every year they get a new ornament, hopefully one that depicts their year or accomplishments, or interests. They always look forward to what I have chosen for them. The hope is that when they leave home they will have a set of ornaments to decorate their very own Christmas tree.
I think my absolute favorite memory was the first Christmas we had with our new baby girl! She wasn’t even a month old. Every Christmas that we can spend together with family is special!
My favorite memory is reading the night before Christmas every Christmas eve. We continued it with my kids too.
I can’t wait to try the sugar cookies! My kids will love them!
Sonya
My favorite memory is the year I was 16…I had been pretty bad that year and when we got up Christmas morning my sisters had all kinds of stuff. I had nothing..not that I deserved anything. But my Dad kept insisting I go through my stocking even though I really didn’t want to. Well, in the bottom…CAR KEYS! I bout passed out.
A new tradition I am going to start this year is to buy a tablecloth, good quiality white or light colored tablecloth and use it as a “sign in book” of sorts. Every year, everyone who attends Thanksgiving and X-Mas signs the cloth with a fabric pen and then get someone who knows how to sew to embroider the names and the year so you have a running “sign in book” of all your family, friends and guests to your holiday parties.
My favorite Christmas memory is simply putting up and decorating our Christmas tree! It always marked the beginning of the Christmas season in our home and I will never forget those times I had with my dear mom!!!
Thanks for the giveaway!
My favorite Christmas activity is making things with my kids. We make ornaments for the trees and all SORTS of baked goodies. Their favorite is the dipped and decorated pretzel rods we do every year. We have very special moments and memories every holiday season from this time we spend together, and the ornaments we make grace our tree every year so we have warm reminders.
my favorite holiday memory goes back to when i was about 7 or 8. We had single panel windows and iceflowers on them where normal during the winter time (have not seen any since). we used to watch to see if we could see the “christkind” (christchild) arrive on the eve of the 24th. That year we were sure we heard it in the living room and saw it leave in a sparkling streak. we found the proof of angel hair at the window in the living room (now of course i know it was my father who created this wonderful memory). It makes it even more special since this is really one of the very few good memories i have of him.
any holiday that involves memories of all my family together is my favorite! they’re so few and far between that they are my favorites. these sugar cookies look so good…i can’t wait to make them!
arisacuppATgmailDOTcom
Our favorite activity is our Happy Birthday Jesus! party on Dec. 24th. We have appetizer/party food as well as cupcakes and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.
Hollie
To me, Thanksgiving is great because it’s when my dad’s side of the family gets together. We are spread out over the country and this is the only time we see everyone. I love it! Christmas is quiet, just my parents and my brother. I just enjoy the relaxed celebration of Jesus we have together…and the cooking. I get my fill of baking during Christmas!
My absolute favorite part of Christmas was always our big family get-together on Christmas Eve.
Swedie
One Christmas when I was about 6 my youngest sister was not yet 3 and would not leave the Christmas tree alone. One evening I kept going to tell my dad (who was home alone with us) that my sis was playing with the tree, but he figured it was nothing. He finally went to check — to find my sister with about 3 strings of lights over her shoulder trying to yank them off the tree — the tree was about to tip over and decorations were flying everywhere.
She is still our beloved trouble maker, 30 years later!
My favorite Christmas memory, other than my wedding, is all of the holiday cooking that we do in my family. My grandmother was at the center of it all, making fudge, divinity, peanut brittle and cookies, for family and friends. I’m hoping this year is a little slower, so I can introduce my daughter to the tradition.
My favorite Christmas memories are with my aunt and grandmother. Each year we would get together and make all kinds of food: pear honey, apple butter, cookies, banana nut bread, and on and on. We would package them up and make them into presents for all of the rest of the family. We would spend weeks test baking and actually making the baskets.
My grandmother passed away last month so this Christmas seems a little lonely already but I am going to do everything I can to try to honor her memory
~Christie
I love the sugar cookie recipe. Growing up we always made refridgerator cookies from a recipe my mom had gotten in a high school home ec class. They are great and now my kids love them too. When I got married my husband’s family always had sugar cookies during the holidays. I hate to cut out cookies (lazy), but I would do it to carry on his tradition. Then the kids grew up and it was the two of us. I started to do the sugar cookies like refridgerator cookies and put them in rolls and cut them off as I needed to cook them. I think your recipe will bring back the tradition and everyone will be happy…because as you well know “if mom ain’t happy; ain’t nobody happy”. Jeff will have his sugar cookies and I won’t have to cut them out. We have many traditions and it’s funny but most of them involve food. Hummmmm.
Thanks for sharing your talents with us.
Camille
One of my lasting favorite Christmas memories was the array of food my mother prepared for us. It was usually the same foods, and a few of them she prepared only on a special occasion. This, of course created anticipation!
Christmas with my daddy on his last Christmas alive was truly my all time best memory. My dad was dying but still wanted to do something for me but we didn’t have any money so gifts were out of the question. I ask could I have a tree that year and out he went to cut me a cedar. I have never seen anything more beautiful than our plain tree sitting in the living room but the smell alone was devine. We had a gas heater in the room and of course it soon was a brittle spruce and ended up on the carpet! Mom was ticked off about that and told me I had to pick every bit of it from the carpet. I didn’t mind it was worth it but as bad as my Dad was he got in the floor with me and help me and we had lots of giggles and it made me love him even more that he went through so much just to bring me a little happiness.
Shirley Moore
My favorite holiday memories are going to each of my grandmothers homes on Christmas Eve. As a child it felt like I was getting a jump start on Christmas. Now looking back I see all the valuable time spent with my family.
These cookies look delicious. Some of my favorite Christmas memories include eating (gorging myself really) all the wonderful food my family cooks!
My favorite Christmas memory was Christmas morning at my mom and dads house. My 2 sisters and I were married and out of the home. At this point my parents had 6 grand kids (they now have 9)my mom had gone so overboard on the kids that we spent all morning watching them open gifts and then there was no floor space so we had to stop take out all the trash and put gifts in cars and start all over. At that point ALL the kids said they were tired and didn’t want to open any more. Have you ever heard from kids they didn’t want anymore presents? That was a great morning.
First off, King Arthur flour ROCKS, I am looking at my catalog now. LOL. now my favorite Christmas memory would have to be when we lived in Alaska, Mom and me and my sister would make cookies and some of our side dishes for the next day on Christmas eve. Well as soon as all our baking adventures would end, we would sit down to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and all of a sudden they would break in from the show and tell how the Airforce had spotted a (UFO) and they were scrambling the jets to see exactly what was going on. During this process, they would tell how they saw multiple blips on the radar and finally they would come back and say they got a visual, and it was Santa Clause starting his desention to start delivering gifts. Well my parents put us off to bed as fast as our feet would take us, and I would put out cookies and milk for him and carrots for the reindeer, and off to sleep we would go. Then my mom and dad would come and wake us up, saying they heard him in the house and waited till he left to come get us… then we would run to the tree and see our goodies…. Amazing how our local Air Force would give us such a memory.. i can still hear the jets in my head to this day…
My favorite memory will be this year. My sister was 14 when I was born. She gave birth to her son Jeff when I was 4. Jen, my niece was born 4 years later. My mom babysat everyday so I grew up along with them. They were more siblings than nephew and niece.
We lost Jeff and his 16 month old baby several years ago in a carbon monoxide accident from an old space heater. In February Jen and her 10 year old daughter were in a horrible car accident. We almost lost Jen twice. We were summoned to the hospital to say goodbye. If any of you have lost someone to an accident.. you know it can happen again at anytime.
Good news is, Jen and her daughter made it. Jen spent 6 full months in the hospital, She wasn’t supposed to walk for a year but she made it 6 months because she is very impatient.
God heard the prayers of thousands of people across the world. I am thankful to God beyond belief for getting her through. I am more grateful for everyday I wake up and I count my blessings and thank him for them.
This Christmas will be my favorite.
I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone of you for posting here. I have had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit (not that I don’t LOVE Christmas, it just doesn’t feel like Christmas is coming yet to me) and reading all of these is just really turning things around for me.
These are all so heartwarming, thank you so very much for sharing. I hope you’ll all take time to read through them, they are truly special.
Gratefully,
Christy
Every year up until my nanny passed away we would gather at her house for Christmas dinner. The whole family would come and she cooked ALL the food. I wish I had known then what I know now about how much work that is! She made it look effortless and each and every dish was fabulous. Spending the holidays at her house are by far my favorite memory. We’ve started a new tradition in that my mother in law and her honey come to our house and I cook. My first year was…interesting! I’ve gotten it down pat now though and look SO forward to making all the food. I know nanny is with me when I cook.
I use mostly King Arthur and LOVE it. I’ve started incorporating whole wheat flour into my recipes and theirs is awesome. The white whole wheat is excellent too! Thanks for such a cool give away just in time for the holidays.
Hi Miss Millie!!!
My most memorable time of the holiday’s were going to my Grandmother’s in Theodore, Ala. (sadly she has been gone for some time now) for Christmas dinner. I since have moved away but my brother bought and lives in her house now. She was the best cook I have ever known. How she could take the vegetables from her garden, a turkey, a chicken or two from her chicken coupe and prepare the whole meal for all of us, there were atleast 40 relatives sometimes even more, I have no idea. It was always more than enough food and sooo very delicious. I miss those times and miss her more than her awesome cooking. I have tried to keep her tradition alive, although I’ll never be the cook she was. I am very fortunate to have found your site. Everyday I look at the new recipes and try them out as soon as I have the opportunity.
I think all the cookies and baking is the thing that makes it Christmas for me. My Mom and Nana taught me to bake Christmas cookies which I still do every year, hundreds of them for everyone. I am like you and can pour over a new cookbook for hours just dreaming about the results.
I am really enjoying your website not only the recipes but the stories as well. My husbands family is from the South and it is a new and fascinating perspective that I have never seen before and I am finding that I love it. Thanks for sharing not only the recipes, which I love, but yourself and your family.
Elizabeth
My favorite holiday memory was the first year I was at college. A bunch of my friends weren’t going to get to go home for the holidays that year, and had crappy dorm food to look forward to.
So I invited everyone over to my apartment for a Christmas party and dinner. Now, I’d never been what you’d call the most ‘domestic’ person, and my friends didn’t believe I could boil water. In truth, I could bake, but I’d never really cooked a meal in my life, much less a turkey! Nonetheless, I spent a week figuring out what to do, and putting things together. (Reynolds Turkey bags are lifesavers…)
We had a great party, watched Rudolph (hey, you have your traditions, I have mine - watch it every year.), and had dinner. They were all shocked at the food. The really funny part to me was that I had just moved into the apartment, and it was my first one. I had a TV, a Christmas tree, and that was all that was in the living room besides pillows. We sat around, ate sitting on pillows in the floor, and had a grand old time!
I got told later that they raved about the party, and that I’d saved their Christmas. That to me was the best part of all!!!
PS - Hi, Miss Millie!
My favorite Christmas memories are of when my girls were little and how excited they were on Christmas Day, that always made my heart feel full…
Brenda
bvdragonlady1@aol.com
Every Christmas we bake cookies then we go and look at Christmas lights. It is always exciting to see who has the best house!
My favorite Christmas memory is always going to my grandparents house and our entire family would come over on Christmas Eve and we’d just enjoy spending time together. My grandparents have now passed on and I miss them dearly.
I remember my grandmother making pie crusts for holiday pies when I was little. She would let me drag up a chair and “help”. I got my own little ball of dough that I got to roll out by myself. When I was done basically playing with it, she would let me sprinkle on some sugar and cinnamon, then she would bake my very own little “pie” for me to eat.
A lot of my memories are tied to food - what does that say about me? LOL
(Hi Miss Millie!)
Cookbooks make me weak in the knees. I am surrounded by them in every room in my house.
My holiday tradition is pretty . . . well, traditional. I bake ALOT! And I make an enormous dinner while we listen to Christmas music. Then at the end of the day, I’m completely wiped out!
Christy,
This place is special as are you. The site is catching on because of your personal touch. It is like our grandmothers are still here, cooking in the kitchen, still slipping us a piece of turkey or divinity even though mama said “NO!”
Everybody please remember that even though you may not have everything you want or need..You’re family situation may not be at it’s best..there are hundreds of thousands of people who would trade places with you in a second.
Count those blessings! Force yourself if you have to..then make these cookies and give them to someone.
I just love all the Christmas’s and I’ve been very lucky, that I get to see my children’s excited faces as they round the corner to the living room and see that Santa came.
i remember Christmas at my Nana,s ( she,s gone , I,m 53 yrs old and I still call her that , I do,nt think I ever called her grandma a day in my life ) . She would make cookie dough , all kinds and then we would do cut outs. She would show me how to do the cutters then she would put them in the oven and then when they cooled I would get to frost and decorate them !!
This was back in the early 60,s when they had the real bubble lights for the tree and I was never allowed to touch them cause they got hot.
She had a big dinning room talbe that would fit just about everybody and we would all gather around that and have the best Christmas feast ever !! She did it all , she would,nt hear of anyone bringing anything but their appetites !! She is gone now and has been for a long long time but now I do Christmas cut out cookies with my grandaughter and I think back of doing this with my Nana every Christmas .It is a memory I will cherish forever. david12939
So many memories. My favorite goes back to when I was a little girl. My Mom always had a huge dinner with so many relatives, grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings, etc. We prepared by Mom baking sugar cookies and my younger siblings and I got to frost them however we wanted. Then Mom started baking pies and preparing special salads. On the big day everybody started coming. It was so festive. Our house was small. My family was 6 kids plus Mom and Dad. We lived in a 2 bedroom house with a very small basement and very small kitchen. Mom set up the dinner table plus card tables in the living room all end to end so everyone was at 1 large table. All my aunts and older cousins and sisters helped Mom in the kitchen. What a tight squeeze that was! The smells were heavenly. But the taste was even better! Most of those relatives are gone now and my family has dwindled down. Those that are left are spread out far and wide. But memories will live on. I miss them all so much.
Hi Miss Millie!
A big Hello to Miss Millie!
My favorite holiday baking memory….Dad’s Nestle Tollhouse cookies….he’d make them with chocolate chips and a batch with white chips just for me! Soon thereafter, I started making sugar cookies…and my FONDEST memory would be my youngest stepbrother polishing off the plate of cookies within 48 hours. Every year, the boys would fight over the cookies…..Gosh I miss my family.
for various reasons, the holidays were often a private, quiet, even solemn time in my family. and i thought that was how it was in all families, until my first long term boyfriend–
he came from a large, bustling catholic family who ate BIG, and his mother started heavy duty cooking and baking in november, with the work and festivities not ending until ephiphany in january!
over the course of the years, she not only welcomed me into the family’s festivities, but also included me in the preparation and enjoyment of providing for her family with such goodies and meals over the season.
what previously looked like thankless (though delicious!) enormous work and preparation, i later understood to be stretching a dollar for many in creative joy, and it ultimately reinforced my love and appreciation for baking.
though we aren’t together anymore, those are the most valued moments and gifts i received from those holidays, and something that i try to share with others each year, no matter how tight the budget or time. it’s really the point of the season, and i am grateful to share!
p.s. for all those bakers: if you aren’t using the King Arthur website, do yourself a favor and include it in your research of recipes and techniques!
they offer simple to understand approaches and explanations, as well as tried and true recipes. and i’m certain their website is a reflection of their cookbooks!
One of my favorite traditions at Christmas time was baking and decorating cookies with my kids which I am now doing with my granddaughter. It is so special.
and ’scuse my manners, really mama taught me better–
(waving and grinning)
!!!Hello Miss Millie!!!
Too many memories to list but then a lot of water has flowed under this bridge. One thing that always brings a chuckle is remembering how many trips to the bathroom my sisters and I made on Christmas eve, always detouring by the tree to see if Santa had come. Another one is skating in the living room on our new skates. And always memories of the annual Christmas family reunion with all my aunts, uncles, cousins,and grandmother, the wonderful food, the warm house. And the ride around town to look at all the Christmas lights - one year we even went by to see the lights at Elvis’ house (and that was before Graceland!) Guess I’ve dated myself now!
Those cookies look delish! I am going to have to try them out. My favorite holiday activity is baking/candy making with the kids. It always takes longer and makes a bigger mess, but they love it and they will remember it fondly someday. (I hope)
So many memories, but my absolute favorite is when my children (a son and a daughter) were still young enough to sleep in twin beds in the same room. On Christmas Eve, I would tuck then in and softly sing Silent Night to them. It was such a peaceful way to end the hectic pre-Christmas planning and to settle them down to wait for Santa Claus. They both remember this as well, and have continued the tradition with their own children.
My other favorite memory is that at 56 years old, I have spent every Christmas of my life with my Mama. She’s 80 years old now and can no longer cook. So I prepare the holiday meal and transport it to her house - good thing she lives only a few blocks away! And my husband and I, all our children and grandchildren, and my brother and SIL all spend at least part of the day with her. We never know when it will be our last Christmas with her so it’s always bittersweet, but we know we’ll always have those sweet memories of Christmas with Mama to cherish.
My favorite Christmas memories are when my kids were small, and witnessing the child-like wonder of the season. These days, they are 22 & 19, and I'm trying to emphasize the real meaning of CHRISTmas and not the store-bought version.
I have wonderful memories of gathering at my grandparents home in central Mississippi with all my cousins a couple of days before Christmas. We were immediately put to work gathering pine boughs and pine cones to arrange around the house, then we would decorate a live tree that was in a huge galvanized bucket. The base of the tree would be wrapped in burlap to which we had attached felted ornaments and the branches would be covered with old tinsel and fragile glass ornaments from some Eastern European country. Once the tree was done, my grandmother would let us help her make cookies, lots and lots of cookies. Nutmeg logs, date pinwheels, sugar cookies, and cocoons (Mexican wedding cookies). Then we would make divinity and popcorn balls. On Christmas Eve my great-grandmother would tell us the story of the birth of Jesus after we had dressed in matching pajamas that my grandmother had made! On Christmas morning after unwrapping presents we would gather around the fire with biscuits and sausage. At mid-morning my grandfather would call us into the kitchen as he worked his magic with fresh citrus fruit and freshly cracked coconut. When he finished with the “Ambrosia” he would make the cornbread dressing! Those were wonderful times! There was an abundance of food, most of which had been harvested from the garden or butchered from the fields. There was also an overflowing of love, laughter, and warmth.
My favorite Christmas memory is visiting my grandfather in the nursing home on his last Christmas. Santa came in and gave him a flower and my grandfather, who never really got excited about anything, got the biggest grin and was so happy. It made his Christmas Eve, and mine, too.
Tammy
other than the corn syrup, this is basically the same recipe I use for chocolate chip cookies! Gonna try this one cause the sugar cookie recipe I have always leaves a strange aftertaste, and knowing how great my chocolate chip cookies usually taste, this one should be AWESOME!!
One of my best christmas memories is cooking with granny in the kitchen.. she started baking and making candy weeks in advance then she make her gift boxes of goodies that she handed out to her family and friends. I do this now… but on a smaller scale!
I too love to read cookbooks! I can spend hours on a new one. My favorite holiday is Christmas. There are so many fond memories tied in with Christmas! A big hello to Miss Millie.
ive heard a lot about king arthur flour lately and didn’t know they had a cook book. i need to try it and see what all the fuss is about….i’m sure its awesome! thanks for doing this christy
thanks
kc
I haven’t been celebrating Christmas for that long but so far, my favorite memory is when my husband asked me to marry him on Christmas eve. It was quite a horrible day up to that point and I just wanted to go back to my hotel room after my flight to his home state(we lived 2 states apart)but he insisted on us taking a second at the airport. He hugged me and I noticed he was trying to hide something behind his back. Thats when he asked me to marry him.
My favorite memories are the ones I make now. Every Christmas I have a different color theme, like blue, red and this year pink. Everything is in the color theme from the decorations to the wrapping paper. My father’s favorite cookies are cut outs so after icing, I sprinkle on the same color sugar and we laugh when his tongue turns the appropriate color.
(Hi to Miss Millie! I have to agree - the nails are pretty!) My favorite holiday memory/tradition is the day after Thanksgiving, when everyone else is shopping, my sister and her daughters come to my house, and we craft presents and cards and make cookies and homemade caramels and just have fun together!
My memories are the ones with all the goodies that my mom/family made at the Holidays. For a few yrs, I used to make trays of various cookies, rocky road to hand out to friends and family.
I do not have alot of great memories of Christmas. But one that I did love when I lived with my first cousin and her roommate we loved going to look at the christmas lights. We saw some gorgeous houses!! And that was something I looked forward to.:)
Sharon:)
i cant wait for the Christmas season. We like to look at the lights around the town and then we make cookies to decorate and share as a tradition. This will be a good one to try.
My favorite childhood holiday memory is how we would all wait and be excited to sit around the kitchen table and cut out, bake and decorate all the kitchen cookies with the colored icings and sprinkles!
This is a wonderful contest! One of my favorite memories takes place not too long ago when i first brought my husband home to meet my whole family. Our traditional christmas involves my “immediate” family all gathering at my grandparents house, they lived next door to my parents. My husband comes from a large city and has a small family, five people, to say he was overwhelmed would be an extreme understatement. Unfortunately I didn’t realize how many of my family there really are, that christmas there was about 40, or how loud and boisterous we can get till my now hubby literally started hearing white noise in his left ear, it lasted for a couple days! He’s gotten better but still takes frequent breaks to walk our dogs whenever we start getting too loud.
One of my favorite Christmas memories, is the year that I received an “Easy Bake Oven”. I was about 10 years old. I think that’s when my love of cooking started to emerge!
I also remember my mom and her sister spending days in the kitchen making fabulous Italian cookies. Hard work, but so worth it.
I love your site, Christy! I’ve made many of your recipes. Keep up the good work!
Christy, I also love to collect cook books. I can sit for hours going through a good one. For years my daughters and I have had a Christmas tradition that starts the day after Thanksgiving. We get up early and shop for all the deals. Ha! It gets tougher every year. Then we go home and get everything out to decorate the tree. I have also got a lot of christmas villages that I collect. We used to put on some christmas music and put the dvd of a burning fire in the fireplace (fake of course) but you could almost feel the heat. Get some hot cocoa going and start putting the tree up. (artificial of course my youngest is alergic to real) Sometimes the girls come in and try to surprise me with it the next morning with everything decorated and the village out. But to tell you the truth, I liked the old days when I was there with them and we all decorated everything. We got to talk about the old ornaments who made them and when even if we were using a different theme that year. We always went to my parents on Christmas Eve for breakfast (Chocolate gravy, biscuits, potatoes, bacon, ham, sausage, white gravy, eggs etc etc) There was so many of us we had to draw names with the kids and the adults. The adults always played the white elephant game with our gifts. It’s always fun to take a gift you know someone wants so you can negociate later. LOL. Christmas is for giving and I always made sure my kids knew the real meaning of Christmas and one ornament we always put on the tree is a Large nail with a red ribbon to represent the nails in Jesus hands when he was crucified on the cross. Our best gift to Him is to spread his Word and be a good witness for Him. So God Bless everyone and remember our memories are precious and we should pass them on to our family to keep them preserved.
I love your site and wish you the best.
Cindy
My absolute favorite holiday activity is taking a name from the community tree and being able to give someone something they wish for and would not otherwise get.
Gah, my reply didn’t post.
We’d get together with another family and go downtown to look at the lights and windows.
Then the 8 of us, 4 kids, 4 adults would pile into a horse drawn carriage and sing Hanukah songs at the top of our lungs.
We got some strange looks from pedestrians.
Those cookies sure look yummy! One of my favorite traditions is how my parents made sure they got sleep on Christmas night and morning without having to worry about us kids peeking at the tree. I didn’t like it at the time, but now I think it was an awesome idea. As soon as we went to bed and they got the living room all ready with presents, they would booby trap the hall way. Seriously, they would do things like tie all our doorknobs together so we couldn’t open the doors, and put jingle bells on the ties so they would know if we were trying to tamper with them. Or they would pin a sheet up at the living room entrance, again covered in jingle bells. We simply knew that there was no way we would be able to peek, because they always had these elaborate booby traps all over the place. Unfortunately, it also sometimes meant we couldn’t even get up to use the bathroom… Anyway, they wouldn’t take down the traps until 6:00 in the morning - no getting up at 3 for us! Then Dad would make us all line up, in reverse age order, in the hallway and get the video camera ready in the living room so he could tape us all filing into the living room. What fun!
Sorry for such a long post. I’m just sitting here reliving my childhood Christmases, I guess I lost track of time and space!
One of my favorite traditions growing up was the annual “Grinch” party that my grandparents had… The entire family got together for dinner (Roast Beast) and the watching of “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” (this in the days before VCR’s when it was an event to wait for!)
Sadly, I don’t have a favorite holiday memory. I hope to make this year different, though!
I’m not sure if my comment posted. Sorry is this comes up twice. My new favorite Christmas activity is participating in an ornament swap. Its a great way to get lots of original handmade ornaments for your tree.
One of my fondest memories of Christmas was waking up on Christmas morning……….we opened are gifts Christmas Eve……..and getting my Christmas stocking. Mom always filled it with the sweetest most clever little gifts and a hand written note.
Looking back at Christmas growing up, I actually remember the food…believe it or not. There were always so many goodies that we normally didn’t get to have during the year. I loved the smell of the house when my mom baked all the cookies, pies, peanut butter fudge and the yummy peanut butter balls. I have carried on that tradition and hopefully my 2 boys will grow up remembering the same thing.
found you over at FoodBuzz, totally drawn to the King Arthur discussion. My current favorite baking cookbook is their Whole Wheat Baking book - I love it! My husband loves it too, he makes the most wonderful chocolate chip scones from that book.
As far as holiday baking memories - I remember each year my mom had a set group of cookies that she would make, all family favorites. I loved helping her with the sand tarts, which had a little almond pressed in the middle, before sprinkling with cinnamon sugar. If she was feeling fancy, she would get out the diamond cookie cutter, but mostly she would roll the dough and cut with a knife. I remember it like it was yesterday!
How wonderful! My favorite Christmas memory is getting to open one present on Christmas eve. We would spend all day scouting out the perfect one to open. I love your idea of wrapping up a cookbook. I may just do that. Oh the restraint you have to not open it beforehand!
When my daughter came along Christmas became a lot of fun and doubled with my son. We have a Christmas tradition. WE always watch Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation, Grinch Stole Christmas on Christmas Eve. Now that I have a new Son-n-Law we have added Jugband Christmas. Good times. Good times.
Holiday memories are so much fun! This Holiday is very special to us as God has blessed us with a beautiful baby princess. We have loads of activities. Bake Cookies with my four year old, shop surprise gifts for all, this time shopping teeny-tiny dresses for the little one:), decorating the Christmas tree together. I love to cook and entertain family and friends. Whole family having a cozy gathering, sipping a cup of hot chocolate on a cold evening, having long chats, opening surprise gifts ( wonder what my hubby would give me:)) watching snow fall from the window. I love to see our city decorated for holidays. It brings out the holiday atmosphere and fun.
playing holiday bingo “jingo” with the family each year.
My favorite tradition is going to the late candle light service on Christmas Eve with the whole family. It’s such a special time!!
~Hi Miss Millie!!
My favorite Christmas memory was going into labor with my oldest daughter.
I hope this works this time. One of my favorite memories of Christmas was receiving a homemade toy box. It was painted late in the night on Christmas Eve. Unbeknownst to all of us was that the paint was still wet the next morning. The top was padded and I sat on it to open my other gifts. My feet did not reach the floor. It was later noticed that the back of my slippers was marring the paint. The box was never repainted. It was like that for many long years. I loved that old box.
A favorite memory of my daughter is when she was about 4 she woke up in the middle of the night on Chistmas Eve. As she was coming into my room, she looked into the living room. At that time, my husband was putting more wood in the wood stove and he cast a big shadow across the floor. My daughter saw it and to this day says she saw Santa’s shadow!
My favorite holiday memory / tradition is coming home to visit my parents and cooking like mad with my mom for an entire weekend!
My favorite memory is making rool out sugar cookies with my mom. I just recently made them by myself for the first time and the smell of the icing just took me back.
My favorite memory is everyone loading up in the family station wagon and riding around looking at Christmas lights.
I just love Christmas!
My mom really made Christmas special for us while we were growing up and I’ve tried to pass that along to my children.
I grew up in Tampa, Florida. Every Christmas Eve, my mom and daddy would put us kids in the car and drive us down Bayshore Boulevard to see Christmas Card Lane. When we got home, we’d find that yet again, we missed catching Santa…but he’d left all sorts of goodies behind!
For several years now, I have done a BUNCH of baking, made up platters, and gone out on Christmas Eve to deliver them to people I just wanted to say “thanks” to. These are people I wouldn’t normally buy a gift for (and wouldn’t buy a gift for me) but just people I want to remember with a little “thank you.
My Favorite memories of Christmas are cooking with my Mom and Dad in the k