Christmas Traditions
We all have them. Certain traditions that we keep going year after year. Let me tell you about a Christmas tradition my sister and I have been doing for the better part of 20 years. Yes, I know, we look devastatingly young to be continuing a tradition for over 20 years.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!How It All Started
Honestly, I have no idea how this tradition started. One year my sister and I just started baking Christmas cookies with my stepmom. My sister was young, maybe around 10 and I was 20. If I really think about it, we could have been younger. We’ve been doing it for so long, that neither my sister nor I can pinpoint an exact starting date. One memory I have from that long ago is us trying to make pressed cookies using a cookie press. Little did we know, you should NOT use anything other than plain cookie dough in a cookie press. It got clogged and needless to say, lesson learned.
Through the Years
COOKIE BAKING DAY!!!
The most exciting day of the year for my sister and I. Our entire family knows to not plan anything on that day. Every year, my sister and I pick a day close to Christmas Eve where we spend the entire day baking Christmas cookies. Our day usually begins around 8-8:30am and ends when we have packed up the last of the cookies. We will pack up cookies for our parents, co-workers, and friends. Everyone looks forward to this day. When we post on Facebook, the comments come rolling in about how they’ve been looking forward to this day all year.
When I moved to my own place, my sister and I started doing cookie baking at my house. Then my sister bought her first house and we swapped years. If we bake at her house, I’m responsible for bringing coffee and breakfast. If we bake at my house, she’s responsible for coffee and breakfast.
Over the years, our parents have stopped by and brought us lunch and a special baking treat. We’ve gotten aprons, chef hats, spatulas, etc. Now, my sister and I will surprise each other with something fun. We’ve gotten each other matching shirts, fun Christmas pants, cookie scoops, and fuzzy socks.
This day is extremely special to my sister and I. It is something that is just for us and what we look forward to all year. There are lots of laughs, mistakes, eating, dancing, and singing on this day. Inevitably, we end up at Giant, decked out in our Christmas gear with flour and cookie dough all over us, because we have forgotten something, or ran out of something. Butter is usually what we need.
As awful as it sounds, we don’t include anyone else in our cookie baking tradition. Even when our boys were little they were there (because they had to be), but they never participated in the baking. They hung out together and did their own thing. Not allowing others in our tradition has ruffled some feathers in the past, but we have always held strong to this. This is OUR day. A day for sisters. A day to bond. A day of memories. And we will continue this tradition for many more years to come…
Blast from the Past...2014-2019
Favorite Christmas Cookies
Here are 3 of our standard, must bake every year, Christmas Cookies
OOEY GOOEY– probably my son’s favorite cookie. You can use any flavor cake mix. Our favorites are lemon, spice, and red velvet
Basic Peanut Butter– my brother-in-law eats all of these cookies within 2 days. My sister always has to bake more
Chocolate Chip-this one is tricky…we don’t have a favorite recipe because we seriously try a different recipe every year. We are striving for the PERFECT fluffy, chewy cookie. One day…
So tell me, what are some Christmas traditions in your family?
