This post is for my Mom, brother, Aunts, cousins and anyone else who ever had the pleasure of knowing my grandmother, Cecilia Holtkamp. Grandma was an unbelievable cook. She could whip up the tastiest meal at a moments notice or plan the most grandiose celebration for weeks and weeks. Her specialties were recipes gathered from cookbooks, newspapers, magazines or friends. She took those recipes and made them her own, subtracting a little of this or adding a little of that, making the end result better than it ever was when others cooked it.
We all have copies of Grandma's recipes. We lovingly pull them out at holidays or any days and make food that we know will taste great because the roots of the recipe were started by Grandma. Today I made the dough for Grandma's Cookie Cutter Cookies. When I got out the recipe, I noticed I had written myself a note in '96, "only make 1/2 batch!" I can remember making the cookies so many years ago and being so overwhelmed by how much dough that one recipe made. Maria was only 5 at the time and we rolled and cut out cookies for hours. I remember throwing away the last bit of dough because I just couldn't cut out another Christmas tree, holly leaf or reindeer shaped cookie. Grandma was still alive then and I remember calling her after we had made the cookies. I wanted to tell her the recipe made more cookies than any human actually needed. But instead I told her the recipe was a success, the cookies were plentiful and tasted just like hers. And I am sure you all know what she said in return for the compliment, "Thanks a million!"
Merry Christmas to all of you and I hope you have a touch of Grandma's talent making Cookie Cutter Cookies, Grandpa's Caramels and Christmas coffee cake. In case you were wondering, I made the entire recipe for Cookie Cutter Cookies - 8 eggs!
That picture is even Grandma's handwriting. She would love that piece you wrote today. I made half the recipe for the Denver kids at Thanksgiving and they ate every single cookie. Maybe I will take the whole recipe for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I have the exact same recipe and the cookies are delicious. I make them at Easter and Christmas. I used to make lots of different shapes for my children to ice, but now I just make stars and Christmas trees. By the way, I made some of Grandpa's candy just a couple of weeks ago and took it along for Thanksgiving -- it was delicious and turned out just perfect (it doesn't always). Well, Julie, have a wonderful Christmas with your family!
ReplyDeleteI am a little worried that your mom only made a half batch of cookies for our visit. They were all long gone before the short week was over! Brad has proudly made your grandmother's coffee cake for several holidays. I think he enjoys making the recipes more than eating them since it reminds him of her. Thanks for the memories!
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