Christmas Tradition

The Italians in our neighborhood gave homemade cookies when visiting their neighbors and friends for Christmas.

The other day I came across two recipes that my grandmother used to make, one was A Red Velvet Cake, and the other a walnut spice cake. Recently the Red cake has made a come back in holiday magazines. The basis of the cake was a chocolate batter with a bottle of red color added. This dye caused the cake to look like velvet when cut. She always used a white fluffy frosting, sometimes she placed cherries on the top. A lot of reds and greens are used when preparing foods for the Christmas table. The spice cake was huge and had no frosting that I recall, some sprinkled powder sugar on the top. Most people served it with cream. The type that you whip in a bowl with sugar and vanilla until it is stiff. I haven't seen anyone make real cream in years. We use real cream like ready whip, light. Both cakes were great and equally liked by family members.

My mother always made chocolate cream pie as it was my dad's favorite. This has become our tradition. It is easier now that you can purchase ready-made pie shells. Graham cracker crust is also a favorite. I'll never forget the first Thanksgiving little Nathan had here. We gave him chocolate cream pie and he couldn't eat it fast enough. Then he tried to eat his uncle's. It was right around that time we learned that in day care one of the boy's was crying because he didn't get his dessert and the provider knew he had received it. She thought he was just trying to get a second. It was eventually discovered that Nathan had a long arm when he got caught taking the pastry of someone else after eating his own.

For many years I baked cookie cut outs for just about everyone and always had cookies for family members to take home. Steve likes the gingerbread as well as the sugar cookies. Oatmeal cookies were always a stapel in my house- a quick breakfast while running for the bus in the morning, and a great snack in the lunch box.

This is the first year that I have stopped making the goodies. I have a freezer full of wonderful pasteries which we have not eaten. On Thanksgiving this year, we did not entertain as my husband and I were ill. We didn't have turkey, only meatpies which were very satisfactory, another of our traditions.

Since my mother-in-law does not make French meatpie, I will make her one for Christmas along with ours. I haven't decided what to make other than that. Perhaps, we will just pick up a few goodies at our local store. I will bake a few desserts to have when company comes over, like rice-crispy squares, for Nathan and grampy. Cherry crustada from my Italian recipes, chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. Some sugar cookie cut-outs and several pies.

If that doesn't happen there is always cheese cake.