Relatively Speaking Blog

Once again the Christmas season is here. Lots of hustle and bustle abound as we prepare for the approaching holiday. In addition to sending cards, displaying decorations, buying and wrapping gifts, time is spent in the kitchen preparing holiday meals and making cookies and candies. Many people I know make the same holiday goodies year after year, some of which are long established traditions following family recipes that have been handed down over several generations.

At the holidays I too enjoy baking. The sugar cookie recipe of my paternal grandmother, Lucy Brown, is at the top of my list. I remember my mom telling me that when she asked my grandmother how to bake something, Lucy would say take a handful of this, ½ handful of that; her hands were her measuring cups. Somehow my mother got Lucy to convert her handfuls to actual cups and write down this cookie recipe, which I now use. When I was a teenager I started to bake these sugar cookies; one time my father complimented me that they tasted like his mother’s. They are a simple cookie that hold special meaning.

In addition to baking a few types of cookies, I often try my hand at making one or two batches of fudge for Christmas. When I first began to make fudge, occasionally it was edible. More likely it was hard as a rock or was too runny and never set. When making fudge the candy needs to boil over a medium heat until it reaches the proper temperature and forms a soft ball in cold water. I completed that part of the process without difficulty, but I needed to hone my awareness in the next step.

My mother had a knack for making delicious fudge of various flavors—chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge and my favorite penuchi, made with brown sugar. One Christmas when she was visiting me over the holidays she taught me the secret to making candy that was as good as hers. The trick? After it cools slightly, beat it to a creamy consistency until it is ready to pour into the pan. Too much beating and it can harden as you pour it in the pan, not enough and it won’t set. That day in my kitchen, after a couple batches of fudge, I began to gauge when it was ready with my mother’s assistance. Now when I make fudge my mom’s voice guides me as if she were standing beside me once again.

There are many reasons people prepare treats at the holidays. Some like baking all year round. Others are cookie artists who enjoy making masterpieces out of dough to serve at parties or give away as gifts. In addition to these, for me, making certain cookies or candies connects me to family members. Some family might be gone, but in the wonderful recipes and the culinary secrets they have left behind, they are remembered, like sugar cookies for my grandmother or penuchi for my mom. In some way, having these foods around, bring those who are gone back to the present to join the celebration and be part of the holidays.

Happy Baking and Happy Holidays. Below is the recipe for my grandmother’s sugar cookies.

Grandma Brown’s Sugar Cookies
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teas cream
1 teas vanilla
Sift together
2 ½ cups flour
½ teas salt
¼ teas baking soda
Cream butter and sugar together, then mix in eggs.
Stir in cream and vanilla.
Next add dry ingredients to mixture.
Chill dough 4-5 hours or overnight.
Roll out dough and cut out cookies.
Bake at 400° about 6-8 minutes.

Cookies can be decorated with sugar, icing or served plain.