It's after three in the morning and I'm wide awake baking for Christmas - a time of family and traditions that root themselves deep in your heart. This year brings some new ones for me. It's the first year of family traditions with my fiancee's family and the splitting of the holiday is still a new phenomenon in my life. It's also the first year without either of my dad's parents since Grandpa passed away in April.
I miss him and Grandma tremendously. There was always the gathering of the O side of the family on Christmas Eve with tons of people (that would just be my dad, a few of his siblings, thier spouses, kids and us), appetizers and cookies aplenty. Christmas Day would be the H side of the family - a smaller gathering since my mom only had one sister. I grew up cooking and baking with the influence of my Grandmas. I remember always being in the kitchen with them.
As a result, I'm known as a cook and a baker, but primarily the baker at Christmas time. I'm in charge of any and all baked goods. There are the requested varieties and the new recipes being tried. Some are gluten-free and sugar-free, all are butter and egg filled, some are naturally sugar free (yes, it's possible!), but all are baked with love.
Family and friends all look at the number of cookies, but to me it's a lot of work that is completely worth it because to me cooking and baking have always been synomonous with love. It's a simple thing that relaxes me and gives me a chance to provide something wonderful to those I love.
One of the best Christmas gifts I just recieved came via a conversation on Facebook with a cousin that lives in Alaska! I now have Grandma H's recipes for Zucchini Bread and Pumpkin Bread! Next baking project is de-glutenify it for her daughters :) (Thankfully, Grandma is still with us but she hasn't baked in years and her kitchen was damaged due to a burst pipe so we don't know what happened to some of the recipes...)
Thank you so much Melinda!
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