Growing up my family really didn't have all that many traditions, but I do remember my mother baking cream cheese Christmas cookies and sour cream coffee cake for Christmas. We had the latter after church on Christmas morning before our late afternoon Christmas dinner, which was turkey with all of the trimmings.
Making Christmas cookies was an annual ritual. My sister, brother and I all participated in decorating and eating the cookies that were made with a press in different shapes (trees, wreaths, snowflakes). The cookie press only came out of the closet once each year for this particular recipe. Decorations included sugar sprinkles, chocolate chips, and candied/glace cherries.
Last year I decided to test both of these American family traditions in New Zealand with the Robertson family; they were enjoyed, so I'll continue. I must confess that it makes me happy to pass these on to the next generations in another country.
I thought this was our unique family tradition until I went to search for the recipe on the internet and found a number of versions. So perhaps other families (late baby boomers like myself) also share this particular tradition.
Since it's summer here in the Southern Hemisphere, we tend to combine Northern Hemisphere traditional Christmas cooking (turkey or ham, Christmas pudding, etc.) with warm weather fare (fresh strawberries, pavlova, BBQ). Most of the country is on vacation for at least the two week period given the public holidays.
So I've also baked other goodies for our Boxing Day buffet lunch in the garden and our extended vacation period (or rather our extended work stint!) at Struan Farm. People tend to stop in, and it's nice to whip out homemade cookies or cake for morning or afternoon tea, which we still observe here in NZ. We also have a fair number of impromptu buffet lunches on the deck or out in the garden, with or without visitors-- it's good to have a stash of baked goods for those.
I've made a few American classics, Nestle's "Original Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies," and Quaker Oat's "Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies," along with the Kiwi classic "Anzac Biscuits" and our friend Mary Spellman's "Jam Gems."
I'll bake sour cream coffee cake from The Silver Palate Cookbook tonight (this recipe is very similar to the cake my mother made) so it's fresh for Christmas and Boxing Day morning tea; it's moist and keeps well for several days.
P.S. I've been adhering to the low carb, low sugar South Beach Diet regime since June, and am leaner for it, so this Christmas baking definitely isn't for me!
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