Holidays are where most of my memories over the years were created. The family events create traditions across generations, but the anchor of all holiday traditions is the food. Ham at Easter, barbecues at Fourth of July, birthday cakes from scratch, Monster Munch at Halloween, and Thanksgiving turkey with Grammy’s stuffing are all special moments that happen only at that time during the year. 

Christmas is the holiday to beat all holidays. Traditions involve decorations, shopping, and movies. After all, it’s not Christmas until you watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. We always get a real tree, and my husband is in charge of putting on the lights. Lots of lights, all carefully clipped to branches. I do the ornaments, helped by the kids when they were younger and at home. Traditions involve cooking, too. We always have ham on Christmas Eve, with up to 25 family members, then opened presents. On Christmas Day, turkey reigns. 

My favorite Christmas cooking tradition, however, is baking. I love to bake cookies any time of year. My chocolate chip cookie recipe, which everyone loves, is one I learned as a teenager. At that age, however, I didn’t do any particular Christmas baking. It wasn’t until I was married that I began the tradition of holiday baking. The recipe for Chocolate Mint Parfait Bars (recipe here) came from a 1983 Woman’s Day special issue (which I still have) called Great Holiday Baking. Classic cut out sugar cookies, heavily iced, are a favorite now that I’ve found a perfect recipe where the cookies hold their shape. My family also loves Choco-Butterscotch Squares, which aren’t particularly holiday in nature. At Christmas, though, nothing has calories, right? So it’s the perfect time to make the decadent things you love. Maple fudge is a special treat because it doesn’t always come out perfectly. A more recent favorite is Peppermint Snowballs. They are basically Oreos crushed with cream cheese, covered in white chocolate and crushed peppermint candy. This year, for the first time, I made Chocolate Haupia Pie (recipe here). It’s a recipe born from the Hawaiian tradition of haupia, a coconut dessert. It is the perfect marriage between my husband’s favorite coconut cream pie and my favorite French silk pie. 

For the last three years, one day in early December has been set aside to bake with my daughter-in-law and my niece-in-law. Sometimes there’s wine and food glitter involved, and sometimes other people are invited. There’s always love and laughter and lots of sampling. The result is a dining room table groaning with sweets that we then divide up and enjoy with our families. The treats are amazing, but that’s not what the day is about. 

Our annual baking day underscores that which makes all traditions meaningful. Family. It’s family that makes the memories of traditions integral to the holiday. This year, when the family can’t gather close, I mailed a box of Chocolate Mint Parfait Bars to my son and daughter-in-law. Sharing love via Zoom is a temporary thing, I hope, a one-time memory rather than a tradition. At least it allows face-to-face sharing of the holiday. 

Whatever you bake at this time of year, and whoever you celebrate it with, whether your holiday is traditional or a pandemic oddity, I hope you enjoy a very healthy and merry Christmas.