Schweiger 1

Annabelle Schweiger

Dr. Kim Lacey

English 111

19 September 2019

Going Rogue on our Christmas Tradition

Early November is around the time when my family starts getting ready for Christmas.

We aren’t one of those families that “skip” Thanksgiving by any means, but we do have

Christmas on the brain earlier than most people. This isn't just because we love that time of year,

but it's also because there's so much that has to be done, and so much to look forward to. Each

year for a while now, my family and I have gone through the motions of preparing just like any

other person that celebrates Christmas. Although I've always found some sort of comfort in

doing things the same way for years on end, I never considered these preparations a tradition.

However, growing up, I picked up on a food tradition that has been going on for years on my

dad’s side, and we only get to experience it around the holiday season. Each year, only during

the Christmas season, and only at my grandma’s house, we have what we call ​Grandma Cookies​.

They are my absolute favorite cookie, and it's the one food that I look forward to having each

year because there is no other time or place that we have them.

My family has deep Polish roots on my dad’s side, and somewhere down the line came

the recipe for ​Grandma Cookies​. None of us are really sure who came up with the name

Grandma Cookies​, why they're called that, or even if that’s what they were originally called, but

at some point the name was said, and it stuck. That is now the name that is written on the recipe

card, and has been for years. To clarify, the recipe is not at all a secret. Even though we only
 Schweiger 2

have the cookies at a certain point of the year at a certain place, anybody in the family has access

to it. It is just tradition that we eat them when we do.

Since my aunts were born, they and my grandma have been the ones to make the

Grandma Cookies​ that we have on Christmas. Each year, the day after Thanksgiving, my dad’s

sisters Susie and Debbie will set aside their whole day to go to my grandma’s house to make the

cookies. While the recipe itself isn't difficult, the instructions need to be followed very carefully

and precisely. The Grandma Cookies are very similar to the makeup of a sugar cookie, but they

incorporate significantly more butter, and the dough must sit in the refrigerator prior to rolling it

out. The technicality of the process, along with making several batches, is why they have a full

day's work ahead of them. Personally, I think this is one of the reasons that they're only made

once a year. As of last year, I got totally fed up with having to wait until the Christmas season to

have my all time favorite cookies, which is why I suggested to my mom that we make them

ourselves. She was all for the idea, and so was my sister. Although I’m not much of a baker, they

were pretty skilled in that department, so we had no worries.

It was around November 2018, when we decided to make the cookies. I was getting in the

Christmas spirit, which was what initially brought on the idea. I drove to my grandma’s house

and hand copied the recipe myself. I double and triple checked that I made no mistakes, and was

all set to go. At this point in time I was feeling good; even though it was the easiest part of the

process, I knew that at least one thing had gone according to plan. Little did I know, it was just

about the only thing that did.

On my way out I texted my sister the recipe in hopes that she could have all the

ingredients purchased and ready by the time I got home. She did, but she bought the wrong kind
 Schweiger 3

of butter, and the wrong type of sprinkles. From what I understand, the type of butter adds to the

flavor of the cookie, and the sprinkles change how the cookies look after baking. We found this

out afterward, but didn't think much of it at the time and got baking.

The whole process of mixing the ingredients went fairly smoothly if I do say so myself.

We had no real hiccups. Then the recipe then said to leave the dough in the refrigerator for about

three hours. Who has time for that? We didn't, so it only sat in the fridge for about and hour and

a half. This made rolling out the dough extremely difficult.

I tried rolling the dough out first since making the cookies was my idea. Less than a

minute in, it started to stick to the rolling pin and fall apart even when we used flour to prevent

just that. At this point I was getting frustrated. I had my mom and sister yelling at me what to do

as the dough continued to fall apart. It got to the point where I couldn't take the bossing around

anymore, so I gave the rolling pin up to my mom. Luckily she was able to get the dough

somewhat rolled out so we could cut the shapes, but the thickness of the dough varied a lot.

Some of the cookies were super thin and others were pretty thick. Even for someone that doesn't

bake a whole ton, I knew that would probably become problematic later.

We laid the cookies on the pan after it was sprayed. It turns out, because the cookies had

so much butter in them, it wasn't necessary to grease the pan to prevent sticking. The cookies

were brushed with egg wash, and the sprinkles were put on. We put them in the oven and my

mom set the timer. She forgot to press start.

What was supposed to be 10 minutes later, turned out to be approximately 17 minutes.

With the combination of the unnecessary cooking spray, the inconsistency of the cookie

thickness, and the extra 7 minutes, the cookies burnt, and they were unsalvageable.
 Schweiger 4

The house had a terrible smell, we had to open up all the windows to try and get rid of it.

Naturally we were all pretty disappointed. We had spent hours making only one batch, and now

there was nothing to show for. We couldn't even attempt to taste what we had made.

There was no way we were going to try again. That would mean buying all the

ingredients again, and having to do all that work once more. As much as I wanted those cookies,

I wasn't up to the task, and neither were my mom or sister. The ​Grandma Cookie​ factory was

officially shut down in our house.

Most would say that all of our problems would have been solved if we had just properly

followed the instructions, and paid more attention, which is a fair point, and probably true. I just

say it was meant to be. Waiting for the cookies is part of the whole tradition. The anticipation

and my grandma’s baking is what makes it special. Our cookies wouldn't have been the same,

and they probably wouldn't have tasted as good either. Even though waiting each year can be

difficult, we plan to let my grandma keep making the ​Grandma Cookies​ from now on.