Every year, right before Christmas my family and I make all kinds of Christmas cookies. However, the one type of cookie that we make that stands out to me the most are butter cookies. These cookies have been on my mom’s side of the family for generations. The recipe was my Great, Great Nanny’s (grandma’s). My Great, Great Nanny brought the recipe with her from Italy, in the early 1900s. However “real Italian” butter cookies are the one that are commonly found at bakeries. Meanwhile, my family and I has Americanized the recipe, by making our own shapes with the German originated cookie press. With the cookie press, we shape the cookies in all different shapes with cookie presses and the most common shapes are Christmas trees and wreaths. While my family bakes the cookies we usually have “stations” around the kitchen where different steps are completed. However, now that everyone is growing older we are finding less and less time to make our special recipe. My Dad is always working when we bake, but when he comes home he always eats the entire dish. We usually save most of the cookies in the dining room for Christmas, however I really can’t resist. We most likely have to make another batch. These cookies are really meaningful to my family and I love having a recipe from generations ago that no one else has. 

– AM

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