Christmas and traditions. Can't have one without the other, right? Or can you? What are your traditions or are you among the mortals who "gasp" don't have any? Let's discuss......
It's okay. THE big holiday is over. We've made it through another one. Now we can sit back and be honest about it. I'll start...(deep breath)...
Word's Christmas traditions are boring. There's no carroling by the fire. There's no horse drawn sled ride through the snowy winterscape. There's no fabulously unique, original, write home to grandma about, tradition of grandeur at our house. There's just us, a tree with a hodge podge of ornaments and mismatched lights, a wreath for the door, and about a thousand or so Christmas Cookies (give or take).
I remember the first Christmas my husband and I shared as a married couple. I desperately wanted to establish something unique and special that could be passed down for years to come by our yet unborn children. I made a list of all the wonderful Christmassy things we'd do. It would be magic. UHG! It felt like I was role playing. Where was the magic of my youth?
Because it takes Word a couple of times of getting hit in the head with a brick before she finally gets it - this went on for at least three or four years. Finally, finally, I got it. Traditions are not planned or contrived. They happen when you least expect them.....if you let them. The best Christmas traditions are born out of laughter. Out of just being ourselves.
I'm 40 this year. AND finally there is a tradition that has attached itself to my family. It wasn't planned. It isn't even something I would necessarily choose to be remembered for. But there it is - (another deep breath) - drum roll please!
Word's super wonderful fabulous unique Christmas Tradition is - cookies. Now wait - you know me. There must be more to it than just cookies, right? Well there is. It's not the cookies so much as it is the way they are packaged. Let me explain. A few years ago, I was looking for a way to honor family and special people in my life with a gift. Now since we have long since decided not to exchange gifts among the adults in our big family Christmas get-togethers, I was stumped about how to let my parents, brothers and sisters know how much they are appreciated as well as how much my children appreciate the abundance of gifts they get from them.
Cookies were my answer. The kids and I would make cookies. Enough for everyone. Enough to feed all the starving children in China. Cookies galore! But when? We'd have to get started early. Right after Thanksgiving. But how would I keep all these cookies fresh and tasty. No freezer burn allowed for these cookies. They had to be perfect.
I'd individually wrap them in that self sticking saran wrap stuff....then double bag them in air tight ziplock freezer bags and stick them in the freezer.
Are you getting the picture yet? I'll wrap it up...pun intended. I, of course, take the cookies out of the freezer bags and put them in gift bags, but they stay wrapped up tight in that saran wrap stuff. Basically they are IMPENETRABLE. It takes an hour to get even one unwrapped before you can eat it. Oh it's fresh and tasty all right. Just nearly impossible to get to.
So - yes - I finally have my Christmas Tradition. Word's family is known as the giver of the impossible to eat Christmas Cookies. I'm so proud!
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I'm wishing you much happiness in 2008
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9 comments:
Mmm...cookies...I'm 100% certain that they were delicious! Hermetically sealed or not, the ferocious cookie fiend can always find a way to unwrap a snickerdoodle or those yummy thumbprint cookies with chocolate kisses in the middle. A scissors tends to work for bookchyck and the DH! Happy New Years!
Yummy! I love frozen cookies!! Guess my tradition was started by my dad. In fact, he began two traditions. From the time I can remember, he read "The Night Before Christmas" to me every Christmas Eve. I read it to my son, from the same tattered little book that had been distributed by a car dealership back in the early 50s. I still have the book.
He also made the most delicious fudge! We loved when he made fudge. My mother hated it because he'd beat it with a hand mixer and would end up splattering the ceiling! Still, the best fudge I've ever tasted.
Happy New Year, all!
I don't mind opening saran wrap to get to a tasty cookie!!
This is a wonderful tradition!! Do your children help to bake them? Do you have special kinds you make for people?
Mary, I love fudge!! I haven't had it in years though!
:-)
Hello Ladies!
Bookchyck - Using scissors is akin to cheating! You wuss! Faint of heart!
Mary - MMMMM fudge! Please tell me it is the nutless variety. It's such a pain to have to eat around them. Twas the night before Christmas....when all through the house, not a creature was stirring...EXCEPT FOR THE MOUSE THAT IS NOW IN MY KITCHEN!!!!!!! Yes - the one we caught evidently has a sister or brother.
CL - Hoo ha - me neither. I am a cookie fiend, a little saran wrap is nothin'. Yup the kids help. It's all about who gets to crack the most eggs at my house. Generally - we do about 8 to 10 different types of cookies. Of course - somehow the two favorites of my family never seem to make it into the gift bags....must be the mouse ;-)
I would kill for some roll out, cut out sugar cookies. Why are they so hard to find?
And while I'm a great cook, I'm a lousy baker and right now my regular oven doesn't work anyway. Not sure how they'd turn out in a toaster oven.
Fudge is great too, but nothing beats roll out, cut out sugar cookies.
I had an easier time breaking into Fort Knox than into those cookies. But man, were they goooood!! Plus, I didn't have to drink a gallon of milk with them just to make the cookies easier to go down. They were soft and oh so goooey. Thanx sis!
:-)
Mussel Bound -
Hi Ya! I think they are so hard to find because they are such a pain in the keister to make! But gosh they are good!
Hey AB35AB - You found my site! Glad you liked em. How long did they last? I agree, milk should be the appetizer, not the main course when eating cookies.
Thanks for visiting everyone!
Now I must ponder the next "discussion". UHG.
Hey Word--don't stress the next discussion! No ughs! Try some random thoughts. Go to the window and make note of something, anything, be it mundane or eye-catching or just plain strange and see what kind of a discussion you can weave from that. Right now I'm musing about how dark the street is now that all the neighbors have taken down their Christmas lights, and remembering how my mom would always announce throughout the winter that the sun set XYZ minutes later than it did the day before. And how I am now finding myself doing the same thing...:-)
I love that story. It's hilarious! It is actually quite smart - if you love them, they get a treat. If you're annoyed with them, you can throw it & hit them on the head with it. A passive aggressive way to give a gift without them even knowing the feelings behind it. :-)
My tradition started 3 years ago with homemade cinnamon rolls (& I had inspiration for a story to go with it. Yippee). Then my MIL passed away, and so we added a tradition of making one of her favorite dishes - Swiss Steak for Christmas dinner. It makes us feel close to her and the recipe is delicious.
... & Looking forward to the next cawfee talk. :-)
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