Christmas Traditions

Christmas traditions are part of every family experience. Whether it is spending time shopping, going to parties, staying home with family and friends these traditions are important.

They are important because they give continuity to family. Something you can look forward to year after year. Something your parents did, your grandparents and if you are very lucky your great-grandparents.

In my family it is the traditional cookie baking Sunday. It started when the children were small and the only treat I could afford to give them during the holidays were homemade cookies. The kids and I spent one Sunday making cookies together. We then gave them as gifts to teachers, friends, the local shelter, and the nursing home down the street. The children would make the wrapping out of whatever paper was available even newspaper. Presents came from the heart, not the department store, and because the children helped in making the recipients appreciated the presents all the more.

Since the children have become adults and moved out of the home you would think this little tradition would have been forgotten. The truth is it hasn’t. My daughter who is the oldest and one of my twin sons spend the second Sunday in December in our kitchen making cookies to hand out to friends. They still take cookies to the local shelter for other children to enjoy.

It is a time of much laughter and memories. The recipes have broadened to include some new favorites. One of the newer cookies for them to make is a recipe handed down to me from my grandmother. It is a simple sugar cookie with a twist. The recipe is at the bottom of this article.

This is a tradition that I have passed down to my children and hopefully if any of them have children they will pass down to my grandchildren. Gifts do not have to be store bought, do not have to have a dollar sign attached; they should come from the heart.

During the holiday season take a moment to reflect what you have rather than what you can’t afford and start a new tradition. Maybe it is taking baked goods to a shelter, to a nursing home, give of yourself in little ways and involve your children. Teach them the tradition of giving.

Soft Sugar Cookies (Gram's Cookies)
½ cup of shortening
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
½ cup milk (best if sour)
pinch of salt
½ tsp of baking soda
2 ¼ c flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
banana 1-2
chocolate chips- whatever feels right to you
Maraschino cherries cut in half.
A little cherry juice

Mix all with a spoon, not an electric mixer. Combine shortening with the sugar. Add egg,, blend in milk and vanilla and a small amount of cherry juice. Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix all together very good with large spoon.
Last add 2 mashed bananas and chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls on a lightly
greased cookie sheet ( I use parchment paper) and sprinkle with sugar and top each with a maraschino cherry. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

(I want to say that I was lucky that Gram lived with us while growing up, a plate of these cookies was always made for us when we got home from school. She never had a written recipe. Her cup of anything was measured with a coffee cup, her teaspoons with a regular table teaspoon. For that reason these measurement might be a little off. She gave us the recipe towards the end of her life. When the texture looks the right consistency, then you have added enough flour. Have fun and enjoy)

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Nancy has worked online as an Affiliate Marketer for eight years. She recently started to publish a cookbook website with some of her favorite recipes. You can visit her site at www.simply-cookbooks.com

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