Messy Memories
I struggle with messes. I know it’s so important for kids to be in the kitchen participating in cooking and learning how to prepare food but oh my goodness the amount of flour that ends up on the floor when the 4 year old is in charge of the scooping and dumping just makes me cringe. I have so many memories of helping both my mom and my grandma in the kitchen over the years, helping cook everyday meals and so many holiday activities that involved sprinkles, frosting, and powdered sugar. I want deep down to give my kids those same memories but man it’s hard for me to get past the mess that I know will come as they “help” mix and measure. But my mom is and my grandma was amazing at letting little ones play in their kitchens, always pulling out stools for us to stand on, tying aprons around our clothes and letting us frost cookies, ice cinnamon rolls, and assemble gingerbread houses. We would add drops of food coloring and mix a variety of icing colors and then decorate each cookie liberally with sprinkles. We’d help spread the cinnamon, sugar and butter mixture over the dough and roll it into the shape of a log, and then watch grandma use her string to slice them into round rolls. After they were baked we’d help drizzle the icing over the tops watching it melt into the warm crevices of each cinnamon roll. Mom would help us assemble Gingerbread houses and give us free reign at decorating them with icing, M&Ms, gum drops and licorice pieces, assuring us whenever we spilled something that it was okay, we could sweep it up. Whenever we go visit my folk’s at Christmas we spend a baking day, mixing up batches of our half dozen favorite holiday cookie recipes, spreading waxed paper and parchment over all the kitchen counter and table surfaces letting things set, harden, cool and be frosted. These are the memories I want my boys to have too, and maybe now that we are just about out of the toddler stage it will get easier to let them help.
Because my Grandma was a cookie baker extraordinaire she would make dozens of types each Christmas—fudge, gingerbread men, rocky road, nut goodie bars, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, divinity, the Hershey’s kiss thumbprint cookies and I’m sure I’m forgetting others. My mom always does batches of at least 5 or 6 types—emailing to ask my sister and I which recipe we want to make sure is included in each year’s list. As a young mom I realized the last few Christmases that I was putting a ton of subconscious pressure on myself to match their levels of baking so my boys too could have All The Mememories! But the idea of baking any huge batch of anything with a 1 and 4 year old just seemed so exhausting and I would get so overwhelmed that for a few years I didn't bake anything. Last Christmas I remember seeing a post on Facebook from my friend Michelle who taught our toddler class in California. She reminded me baking with kids doesn't have to be complicated. It's okay to start small and it's okay to choose one thing to make, that we don't actually have to do every favorite recipe the first year we try Christmas cooking baking. I needed that reminder. So the boys and I made reindeer noses which really doesn't count as baking. All you do is lay little pretzels on a baking sheet, unwrap a Hershey's kiss to put in the center of each one and bake for about 10 minutes in a 225 degree oven. When the kisses are slightly soft you pull them out and press a red or green M&M into the center of each. That's it. There really is no mess and it doesn't take all day but I tried it with my boys and they loved helping! This year I'm hoping to do maybe 2 or 3 cookie recipes throughout the month of December with them but I probably will pick the easier ones that don't take full days to finish--we'll leave the sugar cookie frosting for when we go to Grandma's house!
I'm trying to remember that it's okay to not be at the level of someone who baked for 65 years when I'm in these years of parenting little ones. When I'm 75 maybe I too will make 12 different recipes each cookie baking season but for this year I want to remember simple is okay. Simple is better when little ones are involved. Embracing the mess to give my boys the experience of baking with mommy is a good thing. Floors can be swept. Counters can be wiped. Sticky fingers can be rinsed but those memories can't ever be taken away.
Every Christmas the quintessential cookie in our family is the sugar cookie. My mom and grandma would make them every year, some years I would be there to help but some years they'd be done before I arrived. This recipe goes back a couple generations, I know it was my great-grandma's recipe that my grandma then made every year. It's a lot of work and tastes best when the dough is made the night before and refrigerated over night. It also makes a ton so be sure you have plenty of counter space for these cookies to be rolled out and then cooled on! I still don't think I'm brave enough to tackle these solo with my boys but one year when they are a bit older we will!
Oma's Sugar Cookies
From Sarah's Great-Grandma Freida Roeber
2 c. sugar
1 c. shortening
1 c. cream or half and half
2 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix. Add 6 cups flour or until stiff.
(Best if refrigerated overnight.)
Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes
Frost with a mixture of powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and a few drops of food coloring. Mix until smooth.
