Memories of Christmas Past

My attempt at Welsh cookies this year

I read a post on Telling Dad where he mentioned snowball cookies the other day, and it just brought back a flood of Christmas memories. I LOVE those cookies. I’ve been looking for YEARS to try and find a recipe for them. No one in my family made them, but we always had some given to us. We always ended up with an assorted cookie plate, and the snowball cookies were on it. I also babysat for people who made a ton of them. It was their family thing. It was the best part of babysitting for them.

From the snowball cookies, my memories snowballed (pun intended). I got to thinking about my grandma’s “lead cookies.” My grandma made some American bastardized version of Lebkuchen (I’m not sure if her recipe was a family one they brought over or not) that was just absolutely horrific. I’m pretty sure we could’ve thrown the little rectangles like ninja stars if anyone had ever broken into the house and done some damage. Even as bad as they were, they were part of our Christmas. I still helped make them even though I didn’t eat them. It wasn’t about the cookies. It was about the time spent with grandma.

Then I started thinking about all the Christmasses my mother ruined with her toddler like temper tantrums, and I was thankful we don’t see her anymore. I’m sad that she probably now spends her holidays all alone, but she did it to herself. No one wants to be verbally abused, especially during the holidays.

Then back to the happy. When I met my husband, I got the insider scoop on their traditions. Being that three out of four of his grandparents are from Wales, their Welsh cookie recipes came over with them. This is something we only get at Christmastime. This year, I was delighted to find that when I googled Welsh cookies, there are now about as many recipes floating around out there as there are families. I’m on a quest for softer cookie that our kids may like better than our current recipe.

Do you have family food traditions? Favorite memories?