BAKING WITH BABY: Clare Haynes, 1-year-old daughter of Prairie Farmer associate editor Betty Haynes, helps her mom make Rolo Cookies for the first time — with her own little wooden toy mixer. Betty says Clare’s little fingers wandered into the bowl of Rolos, both to taste-test and stack them up like wooden blocks. Betty Haynes
What’s a holiday season without food and traditions? Ask most folks and they’ll tell you their Christmas Eve or Christmas morning or New Year’s Eve wouldn’t be the same without this one particular dish.
For my family, it’s Strawberry French Toast on Christmas morning, or my mother-in-law’s sticky rolls at the Spangler family Christmas. As a kid, it was making sugar cookies with my mom, with colored sugars and those little silver balls you can’t get anymore (maybe because you could crack a tooth on them).
Associate editor Betty Haynes is already rocking the Christmas cookie baking experience with her 1-year-old daughter, Clare. Betty’s taken her treasured memories of baking Rolo Cookies with her own mom, Nancy Thomas, and is making them with Clare this year. They pulled out Clare’s wooden toy mixer, right on the counter next to the KitchenAid.
Betty says she won’t soon forget Clare’s first taste of the Rolo Cookie.
“The white-chocolate drizzle drew her in for the first sample of just the topping on her finger — baby approved,” Betty says. “Then she grabbed a cookie from the cooling rack with her sweet little hands and took the first bite. Clare’s face lit up with her signature scrunched-nose grin, revealing the few teeth she has peeking from between her lips. Needless to say, Clare was a big fan.”
Joy to the world, indeed!
So with all these rich traditions, we asked our staff to share the dish that makes Christmas for them and boy, did they ever deliver! Check out this slideshow for the recipes and stories, from a Crispix mix to a creamy, cheesy fondue. We hope you’ll try them out.
And from all of us to all of you, we wish you a very happy holiday season with all your favorite foods, but most of all, all your favorite people. Merry Christmas!
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