Advent Devotions 2022

More Than Cookies

Posted by Rebecca Dixon on

While there is a myriad of Christmas traditions that make up my favorite things, one of my fondest is our Christmas cookies. When I was growing up, my mom and sisters would help make our Christmas cookies. These cookies would end up sitting in containers on our colossal 1970s wooden record player/ stereo system which also functioned as a buffet during the holiday season.

Every treat had a specific place. The glass container contained caramel popcorn, the plastic holiday tub held People Puppy Chow… There was a container for everything! But my favorites were the cookie containers. They held iced sugar cookies, fudge, bishop surprises, ice cream cookies, oatmeal cookies, and red and green Christmas pinwheel cookies. I can remember my friends coming over and heading directly over to that large wooden stereo to grab some treats.

These cookies did not only taste wonderful, but they also held familial memories; they were the cookies that my mom and her sisters baked with their mom. These were the recipes that had been written down in many of our loved ones’ handwriting. They were deep, living connections to the past. They were more than cookies.

Dave and I married during the Christmas season. When we were planning our reception, I told my mom that I wanted our Christmas cookies to be served. This was a rather large ask (especially because I also wanted her to make her red velvet cake!), but I wanted to share our cookies. These cookies connected us to our family of our past and helped usher Dave and me into a new beginning. They were more than cookies.

And so it was that my mom shared with her oldest sister, my Aunt Nancy, that I wanted the cookies to be served at our reception. Aunt Nancy, who was an amazing baker, said she wanted to make them for us. She baked dozens and dozens of our traditional Christmas cookies and brought them with her to my wedding. I can still see her with my uncle coming off the plane carrying the cookies. They were more than just cookies to her, too!

At the reception, we placed the cookies around my mom’s large punch bowl for our guests. Most of our guests weren’t aware of the sentimentality of these cookies, but my family knew, and it felt as if my grandmother and her sisters were there celebrating along with us. Past and present were living together through recipes and memories. Goodness, it is so much more than a cookie 

May you experience the true essence of the season this year; Jesus, love, and family.

 

Mom’s Pinwheel Cookies
½ c. butter
½ c. sugar
1 egg yolk, beaten
3 tbsp. milk
1½ c. flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla
Red and green food coloring

Cream butter; gradually add sugar. Add egg yolk; beat and mix well. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together; add to creamed mixture along with milk. Add vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Divide dough in half. Mix red food coloring into one half and green into the other until they reach desired colors. Roll one half into a thin rectangular sheet, then roll the other out to equal size. Place one layer on top of the other; roll tightly. Chill until firm. Cut into slices a little less than ½ “). Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350º for 8-10 minutes.

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