OK People – I am hoping for some holiday cookie ideas ~ I’m counting on you….
This picture is not indicative of my cookie decorating talent – which stands at ‘pretty crappy’…
Photo Credit: Words of Wellness
This is more my ‘decorating skill’ speed – Candy Sushi ~
Photo Credit: Me!
I’ve started my baking list for this Christmas season – but I would like to make my selection more reflective of my family’s heritage (well, family people that are not Italian, basically the in-laws & my parents’ spouses). So I would like to hear what you love in a holiday cookie and/or what kind of ‘ethnic’ cookies your family loves.
Here are the different countries from which my family hails:
- Italy – Biscotti of some sort
- Germany
- Sweden
- Norway
- Scotland – Shortbread in some form or another
- Ireland
- England
Ready? OK – GIVE IT UP…
The Mercenary Researcher 
My family, who is Irish-English-German, has a Pizzelle tradition. My great-grandmother started the tradition, and it has carried down. We always called them snowflake cookies, and I didn’t even know they were Italian until years later.
My husband’s family is very mired in their own holiday traditions. (My mother-in-law once showed up at my house on Christmas day with six trays of food from the Italian store, and didn’t eat any of the ham or even the pumpkin pie that I had made. I was so offended that it was my first and last attempt at holiday hosting.) However, they have willingly submitted to the pizzelle cookie tradition.
I want to check them out – but you need a special cookie press, right?
It took me a long time to no be offended about what people do/don’t eat b/c my family eats but my husband’s family is not as active in eating – and it was a good lesson!
Well, now that I never do holidays, I think my mother-in-law realizes her mistake. It’s also kinda odd because I’m actually a really good cook. I know that’s super braggy, but I full admit I suck at most things. Except for cooking.
You do need a special press, but it’s not all that expensive. Put it on your list for Santa.
I like the word ‘Pizzlle’ too 🙂
You can make me food anytime – I’m all over cooking and sharing.
Even though I have had to learn to not get offended – what you described seemed quite offensive – especially if you bring stuff with the intent to say “my stuff is better and I won’t try anything you bring” – it’s interesting how we use food to communicate, right?
We do use food to communicate. That’s such a good point! As I write more, I’ve become somewhat obsessed with what makes a good metaphor. What metaphors will span the test of time? Food and nature are definitely my favorites.
Blog it- baby!
I am sorry, I have no help to offer, but I wanted to say that the candy sushi is great!
Thanks! I made them for my friend’s baby shower b/c she loves Rice Crispie Treats and Sushi – and couldn’t eat sushi when she was preggers …. so it was fun to combine them.
So creative and thoughtful!
hee hee – that’s me – a paragon of thoughtful…I’ll sushi candy for you anyday, Becca! Just say the word…
The word! The word!
Becca – after Christmas – remind me and I’ll make you some candy sushi – now where do you live?
rugelach and really you must have good old fashioned american peanut butter and hershey kiss cookies.. no? My decorating skills are worse than yours but who cares as long as they taste good, right?
I have a lot of recipes – but I want to get a feel for some family recipes. I baked for years in a hippie breakfast restaurant – I like the ‘taste good’ part the best….
Yes, I have a PB & Hershey Kiss recipe!
taste good– I like that 🙂 Your holiday already sounds warm and inviting
That’s my plan – my husband & son both have birthdays in December -so normally I’m a stress-ball…I’m hoping to ENJOY the holiday season this year…I love Xmas but I get a little wacky until the 24th…
my eldest has a b-day before Christmas. I love that she was born then. Makes the holidays so special and filled with love :0)
What are the dates? Husband 12/8; son 12/22… AHHHHHHHH
My youngest starts it all right before Thanksgiving .. then we have turkey day, then December 14th then Christmas then New years then the Big Guy brings up the rear in late January. It is quite a busy hectic but FUN happy time. I absolutely loved having a newborn home at Christmas.. staying up all night with the lit Christmas tree and holiday music softly humming in the background.. sigh. She will be 19 and every year I flashback to those tender moments.
that’s awesome! My sis & mom in-laws share a birthday right before Valentine’s day 🙂
Oh also you need this:
http://www.sugardishme.com/2011/12/12/crafty-cookies/
Of course I do! I responded on your blog – I love making these ornament cookies ~
I am full of cookie recipes, but none so international. I have a biscotti post coming up soon, but other than that nothing but just straight up COOKIES. Give us photos when you work it all out! I’m excited!
I have a lot of cookie recipes as well – but I want to try my hand at a very different variety than I normally make – I’ll DEFINITELY post pictures. I would love it if someone came and decorated my cookies – because that’s the one part I like the least. Weird, right? I would love to have the patience and skill to make them look like the picture I posted…. Send on the biscotti recipe – I have a few but like to mix & match.
We had a cookie party at my mom’s last year when my little sister came home from France and we all drank waaaay too much Drunken Apple Cider. You ain’t seen nothin’ till you’ve seen those cookies. It’s the only time I’ve EVER had the patience for the decorating part (I totally get you there) and it’s only because it was completely hysterical to make the ugliest gingerbread cookies on earth.
I’m good at ugly! I want to make a Gingerbread house this year (which I say every year but then never do or don’t have the room to display it)…a long time ago I made a Gingerbread gazebo that was pretty cool – but I was at work and had ample space. I loved making my cookies at my work’s bakery – having double ‘hearth’ oven that held two full sheet pans per oven….everything so organized and enough space…ah the good old days…
Baking with some hard cider is divine!
I think we’d be smashing friends ~
Yesssss.
And I’d be 500 lbs…
There’s two Greek Christmas cookies, the kourambiedes (coo-ram-bee-eth-es) which is a powedered sugar covered joy (I’ve never actually made them before, but that’s a recipe I found). and the melamakarona which is a syrup covered joy ^.^ Both AMAZING! And both extremely Greek 🙂
Oh – I’m SURE my family must have some Greek in them as we are from Sicily ~ I will check them out!
Speculaas! And i have no idea how that is translated to English… But it’s delicious, I think it’s Swedish, German, Dutch or something…
Excellent – I will look them up
I could tell, it has many the multiple aaaaaaaaaaaa’s
🙂 I can check for a recipe for you, I found two more, though: Belgium/French – Tompouce: http://www.mijnreceptenboek.nl/recept/nagerechten/vanille-tompouce-17118.html and Dutch: Oranjekoek: http://www.lekker-frysk.nl/oranjekoek.htm
You need to translate both pages to English.
I will check for you, for a link to a speculaas recipe.
Speculaas, and once again, translate it to English: http://www.mijnreceptenboek.nl/recept/taart_en_gebak/speculaas-1849.html
Whoo hoo!
Thank you!!!
Dutch 🙂 Ane we have huge people ones at Christmas and even bigger, spicier, thicker ones as well. Most of the Dutch food online stores have them, as well as pepernoten and kruidnoten for Sinterklaasdag.
Excellent- thank you!!! I cannot wait to try it.
Reblogged this on Annette J Dunlea Irish Author.
Swedish: Rosettes! Deep fried cookies! That is all you need to know. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/rosettes-i/
Thank you!
Oh! Also, good old American snickerdoodles!
Da ~
Well, you can’t go wrong with biscotti or rainbow cookies for Italy. Leibkuchen for Germany maybe? I love those. Shortbread for Scotland definitely. Maybe some sort of Irish gingerbread cookie or oat cookie?
I love gingerbread cookies, jam cookies and chocolate cookies for the holidays. But I’m not proud, I’ll make and eat any kind, any time. I have to start my own holiday baking list so this will help inspire me.
We love the same cookies ~ and maybe in the same order too. Oat for Ireland – I love oat cookies – thanks for the idea.
My husband and I like to make hermits around the holidays. I’m not sure what country they hail from, but they are really yummy and Christmas-y.
Recipe?