If you were to ask me what the staples of the Christmas holiday are, right along with an evergreen tree covered in lights and a sleigh of reindeer, I would immediately blurt out “Cookies!” There is not a Christmas I can remember without my family’s crispy butter cookies, and I suspect many people feel the same way. As I grow older, I find myself asking: Why does this tradition mean so much to us?
My maternal grandmother discovered our family recipe at the Christmas party of her best friend’s fiancé. She was immediately impressed by the unique, homemade butter cookies and convinced her best friend’s mother to share the recipe with her, which came from her own mother in Germany. I was particularly excited to know this family tradition came from friendship originally. It goes to show that the love imbued in tradition is not exclusive to blood relationships; it comes from the connection between all sorts of people.
Over the years, our recipe has undergone minor changes, such as the rejection of a meringue and walnut topping, which only grandmother cared for, but its core stays the same. Although the recipe was a laborious process which necessitated hours and back aches, my grandmother made it every year, instilling love for it into her children, my mother and aunt, who then passed it down to a third generation. Presently, my grandmother is overjoyed to see that my aunt makes the same butter cookies with her young son in Texas, and my mother and I do so here in Ardmore.
What I admire most about the tradition of Christmas cookies is the unique nature of the tradition for every family or household. This makes it more genuine than any holiday goal focused on conformity or perfection. On the week before Christmas each year, after making dough the previous night, my mother and I set out on an hours-long odyssey to roll and bake enough cookies for gifts, parties, and ourselves. We listen to John Denver’s Christmas album, we bicker about the thickness of the dough, we debate whether we should have more tree or star-shaped treats, and every year we have the same experience of connection, which is uniquely ours.
I am not the only one with a story to tell about the importance of the Christmas cookie tradition; countless other students at Haverford have their own special memories. Junior Addy Hill, one of our photographers here at the Fordian, uses a sugar cookie recipe from her great-grandmother. She values the quality time baking with her family and appreciates that the cookies have been passed through so many generations, noting, “I love seeing the various stains and signs of wear on the recipe card, which show how much it’s loved in our family.”
Junior David Schaffer, my fellow features editor, finds that his Christmas cookie tradition provides him with a special connection with his grandmother, whom he doesn’t see as often as he would like due to her living across the country in California. “It’s one of my favorite holiday traditions,” he says, “And ultimately it always makes me happy because of the chance to bond and connect with my grandma, and having an ongoing tradition like that with her helps strengthen and solidify our connection each and every year.”
Similarly, Junior Alexis Bullock recalls that she used to always bake chocolate chip cookies with her grandfather. Although the tradition has waned, she maintains, “These memories were special for me, not because it was an excuse to get to eat sweets (even though it was a great part), but I got to spend quality time with my Bubbie, which I don’t get to do as much anymore.” It is clear that whether the tradition of cookies continues at full-strength or becomes a fond memory, it is a way of connecting with family, especially those whom we don’t often see.
The love that this tradition carries extends beyond the making of the cookies to sharing them with others and eating in community. My mother and I always craft an arrangement of our butter cookies and cranberry pistachio biscotti on a ceramic plate to bring to her best friend’s Christmas party. We also always set aside a tin of cookies to bring to my grandparents on Christmas morning. Another student says of her favorite gingerbread cookies, “In a world full of anxiety and hurt and hunger, there is this joy to be had- the joy of sharing, the joy of eating together, the hope of having peace in the future.” In this way, Christmas cookies are the epitome of the holiday spirit, branching out in all directions to create bridges between people in what would otherwise be an ordinary, cold season.
