Baking cookies (and eating them) is a time-honored tradition in our home during the holiday season. What would the holiday be like without tons of cookies stored in tins, waiting to be consumed by family and friends? That at least was my mother’s conviction when preparing for the holiday. She was fortunate to have a large pantry off the kitchen with enough space for many cookie tins. During the weeks preceding Christmas, in anticipation of family and friends descending on her kitchen, she would marshal her baking supplies, fill the pantry and refrigerator with fresh ingredients, and rally some friends to help her with a big baking blitz.
This year, my daughters Becky and Alison decided to carry on the tradition, and Becky, Alison, granddaughter Emmy, and I gathered at Becky’s home the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and said, “Let the baking commence!” Guaranteed to make a cookie-lover drool, here are a few pictures of the bake-a-thon.
Max, one of the resident dogs, was not too happy to be restricted to his kennel in the corner of the kitchen, where he could only observe the fun. His expression says that he would much rather be “helping.”
An occasional glance out the window convinced us that this was the perfect day to be indoors, enjoying the scent of freshly baked cookies seasoned with conversation, laughter, and fun: essential ingredients for baking cookies to share with the people you love.
That’s it for this memory-making holiday event. It would have been extra fun to have our third daughter and other grandchildren join us, but they all live too far away to pop in for a Saturday afternoon baking session.
SEEN ALONG THE TRAIL 
Yum 😋😋
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They were yummy. Next we plan to tackle sand tarts!
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Everyone looks so intent on baking those yummy-looking cookies! Even the pooch! How can I place an order? 😉
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Thanks, Terri. I expect the cookies will all be gobbled down before we could ship them to California.
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We used to make so many cookies at Christmastime when I was growing — and fudge, toffee and peanut brittle — and I have no idea who ate them all. Quite a good possibility we kept it all in the family. 🙂
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If your family was like mine, there were plenty of takers for the cookies. Everybody had their favorites.
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That’s so wonderful! As a child I joined in the cookie making tradition with my mom and her two sisters…..but now we sometimes don’t make very many…except R makes his Pizelles….maybe we’ll do a few this Christmas again. Nice that you all did do them!
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It was a great time, Clare. We haven’t been making many cookies in recent years, but I thought it was fun that my daughters and Emmy decided to do it. The cookies are a special treat to have throughout the holiday, and the camaraderie made it even more fun. (R makes terrific pizelles).
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So much concentration! Bet these came out a delight! Lovely photos and that dog is adorable 🙂
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I loved the concentration on my granddaughter’s face as she iced the cookies. It made for great pictures. I’m glad you liked the pictures. Max, the dog, is a real ham.
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A wonderful tradition to have. I’m going to make my grandmother’s Italian cookies this weekend.
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Recipes that are handed down in a family are very special. Enjoy your grandmother’s cookies!
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