Right off the bat, I wanted to share my all time favorite Christmas cookie with you. My Nana's meringue cookies!
I have no idea how to properly make them and although there are a bunch of recipes online, there is something extra special about the meringues Nana makes. I'm still trying to get the recipe from her!
If you never had one before, imagine eating a cloud of vanilla sugar with chocolate chips. They literally melt in your mouth (and your hands!)
Anyway, enough of my love affair with Nana's meringues. The point of this blog is to remember back to the beginning of my childhood, when we used to bake hundreds of cookies with my great grandma on my mom's side, who we called MeMe.
One of the most fond Christmas memories I have is of all the Bair/Frank women huddled together in my Nana's dining room sharing stories and listening to Christmas songs while baking. The atmosphere was jolly and warm, with Meme sitting around the table with the kids as we all decorated sugar cookies while Nana made her other signature cookies in the kitchen.
I guess everyone has had that experience, but in my mind it was kind of like what you see in the commercials; a mom affectionately teaching her daughter how to make a rice crispy treat. To the older women, I'm sure it was a little stressful to set up the cookie supplies and to clean up the massive amount of sprinkles all over the house... But to the kids, it was a blast!
After MeMe passed away, Nana pretty much took over as the cookie matron.
This year, the cookie bonanza took place at my aunt and uncle's house. My mom's side of the family used to hold Christmas at Nana and Poppie's house until the family grew too large for their quaint rancher. It's nice and cozy, but we ultimately needed more cookie room.
As I've been diving into more recipes and trying out my family's best bakes, I really reflected this year about the classic cookies from my family (including the meringues.) Nana always makes a few cookies that I really haven't seen anywhere else besides Christmas with my family. Her cookies include meringues, pecan sandies, mini pecan pies (these were the favors at my wedding), chocolate crinkles, and then the classic snickerdoodles and peanut butter blossoms.
Now that I'm an adult and considering a future where maybe I'll have kids to make cookies with, I'm thinking about what kinds I would want to pass down or add to the yearly mix. I'm thinking my favorite to make and one of the easiest are my thumbprint cookies. What cookies are your favorite? What kinds of cookies does your family make every year? Which ones do the kids love the best?
Of course, we spent the rest of the evening eating and drinking, opening presents, and watching football.
I'm so thankful to have both sets of grandparents and a family who loves me. It's really this time of year that gets me feeling sentimental. Maybe it's the gift giving, or the cookie tradition, or maybe it's the cozy feeling with the twinkling lights and sweets. Whatever it is, Christmas will always be my favorite to celebrate with my family.
I didn't really have too much to say about this bakeathon, but I thought it would be nice to look back on in a few years. I'm sure most of you have those special Holiday traditions, maybe even this same one. I just wanted to share one of my favorites!
Happy Holidays!
-KB