We had our first grandchild last year. So we started a new tradition this year, we go shopping at second hand stores for books. Whatever age appropriate books or topics they are into, we put together an advent calendar of books. So every night leading up to Christmas he can unwrap a book.
That is such a great idea!! Of course I may only love it so much because I was a librarian for many years, haha! And I've always loved reading. My two children - not so much, I fear all the reading I did to and with them when they were little has fallen to the side with the internet, sigh. But when the kids are very little, they love books still, at least our little three-year-old grandson seems to. :)
One of our traditions on Christmas Eve is to do a finger food spread and watch the Grinch. We do steamed shrimp, cut up cheese and bologna, some sort of hot dip, chips and pickles, etc and just line up all the food and pick at it while we watch our Christmas movie. And since it’s all finger foods, it doesn’t really involve any cooking so it’s pretty easy to put together ❤
Our fave low budget tradition is to drive around in our Christmas pajamas looking at Christmas lights and drinking hot chocolate. We also each get a new ornament to open Christmas Eve that reflects that year for each person. We started a cousin Secret Santa this year with all the kids, nieces, and nephews. We want the kids to take more ownership of GIVING instead of just receiving. We make snowman pancakes with sausage link arms and decorate them on Christmas morning. Our neurodivergent kiddo prefers regular pancakes and we make those too. :)
We always read the story of the birth of Jesus making candies check mix and my child always got to open one gift on Christmas Eve!! Merry Christmas to you and Todd!! Love who you are Rachel!!
Opening 1 present Christmas eve was a childhood tradition for me too, but I chose not to carry that on and we exchanged it for the brother sister gift exchange
First let me say I'm so sorry you lost your childhood friend. But I'm glad you keep her memory alive with her cookie recipe. As a child, we had the tradition of of reading "The Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, one chapter every evening for the week before Xmas. I so love that book still, and we read the book to my son when he was little. We have a mixed household, so we send a few evenings during Hanukkah lighting the menorah, and chanting the hebrew prayer, which I find very mystical and beautiful. And we have our beautiful Christmas tree every year, with the ornaments that go back to before my son was born, and have his very first little handmade ornaments on it, that he made when he was 2 and a half. Thank you Rachel, and have a joyous season!🎄
I have been baking cookies with my daughters since they were young children. Our yearly tradition now includes two young Grandchildren. We take an annual photo in our matching aprons. We make several kinds. It was a wonderful watching the roles turn as they grew up. We also do the pickle ornament tradition in our home. This now includes inlaws as well. My daughter's always had a Disney Princess tree in their playroom/hangout room growing up. I have now continued that same tree and ornaments with my Granddaughter. We decorate it together. She looks forward to it just as much as I do. Merry Christmas to you, Todd and family.
The only tradition we had was that of eating oyster stew every Christmas Eve. We all loved it. As for myself, I bring out the Christmas dishes and eat on them the whole month of December. ♥️🙏🏼♥️
We bake cinnamon bread and give it out as gifts. Usually Mini loaves for friends and big for family. My mom and dad started this. It’s my favorite tradition!! My wife and I have carried it on now and people love it and look forward to it.
I've enjoyed baking with you Rachel. All our family holiday traditions are focussed around food and preparing it together. We have all the kids and grandkids for Christmas Eve.With grandkids in college it's hard to get everyone together, so these times are special. Always make the fish dishes my mother made, even though I make less each year, they rather have chicken and pasta. But desserts are a must. The kids help me make cookies all week. We make struffolis, honey balls and whatever favorites they want. Sometimes a game of monopoly.We wind up in the living room sitting on couches and floor enjoying stories of our passed loved ones and childhoods. This year I am blessed to become a grandma again in June. Holiday are sometime hard, but surrounding us with loved ones brings joy. Merry Christmas.
My maternal grandmother always made myself and three siblings whoppie pies. The moment we arrived at their home, we would run into the pantry after the hugs and kisses to grab a whoopie pies. I have carried on that tradition with my own children and now grandchildren..
My Grandmother was the best for all holidays, even the family reunion!! I miss the family gatherings! Now that she's gone, our parents are gone. My siblings are not interested in traditional holidays! My kids have all moved on to there own things and that's fine except for I love the family traditions. So I do what I can with my grandchildren to bake cookies, cakes, pie's. Cook a huge breakfast together!! It's the best!! Love, laughter!! I pray for more traditional holidays!! I hope for everyone to have a blessed holiday!!!
Boy can I relate, it's like you are the tradition, and not many want to bother.😢 so just keep being you & shove it down their throats so to speak, when your gone, they'll get & perhaps start their own or carry on yours, that's what I hope for. It's hard being an empty nester. God bless & have a wonderful holiday season!
We love having a family gathering of making the sugar cookies together. For dinner we eat dinner by lantern Mac and cheese and chili for dinner. Then the stockings and the gifts.
We do an annual Cookie Day, second weekend in Dec before the craziness starts. Everyone picks a recipe and we bake them all in one day. We get to see all the kids, and everyone leaves with a variety of cookies. We have the Crock-Pots going for dinner, and drinks for after. It's my favorite day.
Merry Christmas. My husband is making fudge as I watch your video. He makes all the flavors. He's not in the best of health but he gets a certain spark when it's fudge day. Christmas morning we always have biscuits and sausage gravy. It's a treat because it's the only time we have it.
I've been baking gingerbread houses for our kids and their cousins for over 30 years. Then I make a photo book for each of them when they are a young adult. Most times it will include pictures of their spouse helping them decorate their house. It has become special for all of them. ❤
my grandfather was a baker. born in Belgium. Lived in California. when we visited our grandparents at Christmas,he had a bottom kitchen drawer that was the cookie drawer. he made beautiful cut out christmas sugar cookies. my sister and I always love those cookies and have the sweet memories. our new tradition is making chili egg puff for breakfast on Christmas day. and mimosa to drink.
Beautiful video. God bless you and Todd. Merry Christmas and happy New Year. May 2025 be your best year yet. Our tradition is Christmas Eve we all get together and share appetizers, watch ALL the children open gifts and enjoy each other. Love love love y’all. Merry Christmas 🌲🌲🌲🌲
A tradition for our family is my husband takes each of our children shopping for them to get a gift for their sibling. I always baked homemade caramel rolls for Christmas morning. We also always put a Christmas puzzle together.
My paternal grandmother made banket (Dutch almond pastry) every Christmas Eve. I have taken up the tradition now that I have settled in Texas with my family. Never a complaint about the recipe! 😊
We have the pickle traditional too, along with Christmas tree decorating party, gingerbread house decorating, holiday baking, Grandad (my husband) reading The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve, Crab feed on Christmas Eve, opening 1 present on Christmas Eve, Christmas Breakfast Casserole and fresh baked croissants, always have to have family recipe stuffing, sweet potatoes, ham, mashed potatoes, beef tenderloin, and all the usual desserts.
I’m a little late to commenting but two of my absolute favorite traditions and something we will pass on to our children if we are ever blessed with kids: 1) we always picked a night to go get hot chocolate and drive around and look at Christmas lights and 2) we would ALWAYS turn the Christmas tree off at night but Christmas Eve night we would leave the tree on all night. It never really had anything to do with Santa but more of just the tradition.
One that's been a tradition in our family for ages is the monster cookie, it's a great gluten free cookie because it's mostly oats, but also peanut butter, choc chips, walnuts, mini m and m's, I love them as a breakfast cookie also.
Hey Rachel I honestly can’t begin to tell you how I enjoyed this video of you sharing your stories of growing up a a child and traditions that you all had. It just really touched me in such a wonderful way. Growing up a country boy in a farm, with so many siblings, and such a huge family we really didn’t have traditions of making cookies, and different things like that. I just remember going to my grandparents in my mother’s side in Christmas Eve and having a big dinner with all our family. My grand parents had 78 grandchildren and 60 great grand children, and 48 great great grand children when they past away. It has since changed to many more great great grand children. But they always bought for everyone of us every year no matter if it was a five dollar gift it was allot back then. On my dad’s side of the family they didn’t have traditions like my other grand parents yet there were not as many grand children or great grand children. My mom had 13 brothers and sisters and my dad only had 7. So a big difference. But we nevered gathered the way we did with my other grand parents. It was always about the farm, 365 days a year. They were always things to do and take care of. Milking, gathering eggs, fields with, harvesting way up until the first snow fell on the ground. But it just truly means something to have traditions. I split my holidays as a grand parent with my two children since there is miles between the both of them. Christmas and Thanksgiving gets rotated between them so no one feels left out. I try to always go a few days early to be able to do something special with my grandsons so they can have memories of me. Bring a single grand father who has always did the cooking in my family, and making ask the cookies, the decorations and the ham and turkey. They never complain they just enjoy the time with grand daddy in the kitchen with them. I hope you and Todd have a magical and wonderful holiday season with your family and grand babies.
You broke my heart today, unknowingly. My mom 3 aunt and maternal granny past from breast cancer. I so feel you. I feel your heart. I have a grandson whose pos momma took off with that we can't find. Last I saw him was at 9 months he's over 2 now. My heart is broken. This sweet baby isn't getting any of his heritage and memories that sustain our souls. I'm ashamed to admit I would do damage to my daughter in law who is still married to my so and is living with a sheriff's deputy in garner ks. I gave so much of my heart to her. I am sorely mentally damaged by this. I'm sorry, I just don't have a way.
On New Years Eve we make s'mores in the wood stove. It started as a camp out in the livingroom when they were toddlers. We always make sugar cookie and gingerbread cookies for Christmas.
We do have several traditions in my family also. With my mother who passed away 25 years ago, we always made hard Christmas candy as a child. I didn’t always love it because it was such a chore, but we have carried on that tradition since her passing. My siblings and I always get together to do that at some point. In my immediate family, I started the tradition with my children that I give them a book and a pair of Christmas pajamas, every Christmas Eve and in the book I write them a letter recapping the year from mommy to them and I have carried that on with good friends children and now my first grandchild’s first Christmas is this year so she will be getting her first book and pajamas. Those books were always an inspirational children’s book about Jesus or the drummer boy or JS for Jesus candycane book the crippled lamb those type of books as they aged, and we ran out of those kind of books to buy. I started giving them recipe books because that is a passion of mine and I wanted to share that passion with my children. We have many more, but those are the two that stand out to me the most.
Since my boys were small I've always made fudge decorate the trees together as a family and done stockings for them. When we started having grand children we still get together as a family and do a tree trimming day and stockings for everyone. We added in Christmas eve box for the grandbabies which had a few staples every year- new pj's, a book, a movie (usually holiday to help the parent build their collection) popcorn and hot cocoa. I love hearing about your traditions and watching you make your cut out cookies every year! Merry Christmas!
Hi Rachel. You do the most best cookies for Christmas 🎄. Another thing I want to say to you and Todd. Your both wonderful and amazing people. God Bless you Rachel and Todd. Happy Holidays to you and your family. Love you both. HUGS 🤗❤️💙. Mari'a. 💙💙💙❤️❤️❤️🤗🤗🤗🎄🎄🎄👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
We used to do the pickle ornament tradition when I was a kid! My mother is fluent in German, and many of my ancestors are from Germany, so we love all of the German traditions. We also used to make a big batch of Risalamande(rice pudding with crushed almonds in it PLUS one whole almond). Whoever got the one whole almond got a giant Toblerone bar. It's a Danish tradition. My father is fluent in Danish and his side is mainly from Denmark, so we love their traditions as well. I do Christmas Eve jammies and read The Night Before Christmas. ❤
I’m sorry for your losses of your precious loved ones. I think it’s great to foster their memory by making traditions that honor them. I’ve always admired your cookie decorating skills, I can see how those would win the contest! My cookie tradition is Mexican Wedding Cookies, those are my favorite. I’m making a lot of non traditional(for me) cookies and candies this year, just for fun. We always have Christmas breakfast with a special brand of ham my husband cooks low all night, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, Italian sausages with peppers, fried kielbasa and lots of other treats. We have the kids, grandkids and extended family over and open presents before we eat. Lots of work for us old people, lol! But it’s a lot of fun as well.
Other than my 1st Christmas tree 55 years ago (all homemade ornaments and popcorn strings) this is the most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen. Magical. Merry Christmas 🎄 🙏
Thanks for the lovely video. Our traditions are; every Nov 30th night I put up the tree (when the kids were young they'd wake up the next morning asking who put up the tree and were so excited, it was Christmas magic), we would decorate the tree together, we cook gingerbread together every year, do a home made advent calendar. My son was just asking today "when are we doing our cookies, it's tradition." ❤
My kids are still young, but we have a few traditions. We celebrate Advent, light the candles each night and do a family devotional with different activities (we have a book). We also make a gingerbread house together at the beginning of December which always starts out good, than turns into a beautiful, fun mess! I also make cookies to hand out at church every year.
I created the tradition of decorating cookies with my children and now my grandchildren. They range from 4-27 and they all look forward to it. We try our very best to get everyone and although it doesn't always work, we always have a great time with whomever can make it. We were supposed to have it today but my area had a bit of an ice storm and so it will be tomorrow. This was a beautiful heart felt video and really helped me reflect on what else we can do with intention. Your cookies were so bright and beautiful!
I too made a Christmas Cookie Tradition with my children having them help me mix up the Sugar Cookie Batter & letting them use the Cookie Cutters to make the shapes...fun stuff❗👍🏼
Rachel, this whole video made me cry!! I have the same sentimental feelings with my cookie baking and my mixer that I only use for the Christmas cookies. Christmas is always a time for trying to keep traditions alive and reflection. May you and your entire family have a joyous wonderful holiday season and a prosperous year ahead. Thank you for letting us be a part of your lives :)
Tradition is so important. Just a fun video! Enjoyed viewing your cookie making and wise insight to keeping our family traditions. Great job encouraging me. Sugar cookies can be so much work I always think "do I want to do them again" This year I will enjoy it more seeing that traditions will be remembered by all who have enjoyed my cookies in the years past. Thank you and have a Merry Christmas!
Oh, Rachel! The tradition thing really hit my heart!❤ We always had dutch babies on Christmas morning. I carried that to my motherhood. Traditions keep the family fire burning. I gotta find a tissue 😢
So we are Italian, and my daughter married a German man and she bought the pickle to start that tradition with her family! She’s now due with her first child! That’s such a fun thing! I started a cinnamon roll tradition with my girls!
It’s a time to celebrate Jesus. That’s what Christmas is all about. His love for us! What he did for us because he loves us unconditionally. That’s what touches us so deeply only Gods love can do that. Our traditions touch our hearts and I believe that’s God. Merry Christmas. 🎄❤️🥰
Wounderful video Rachel it touched my heart. My children when they were young and now my grandkids bake cookies together and do Christmas ornaments. Christmas and Easter are my favorite Holidays. God’s blessings on You ,Todd and family this Christmas 🎄
When I was little- my grandma had all of us at her house. She made peppernuts- a recipe her mom made, way back to the late 1800s. I’ve taken over making them since the 80s, and this year my 34 yr old son has started making them as well. 😊 The smell of all the spices and extracts will always take my family back to Christmases at home in snowy SD. ❤
I always purchase an ornament for my family members that is meaningful for them, a special event or an interest they had during the year. This way when my children leave the home they would have a collection of ornaments representing their life for their own tree. I hand them out at Thanksgiving. I also get together with High School friends over the holidays to break bread. Christmas Eve is always held at our home. My children were always allowed to pick one gift to open on Christmas Eve.
I did that too, they inherited their ornaments from moms tree as they established their own families but they'll admit moms tree isn't quite the same without all their ornaments on it
I always try the wk of xmas to have a cookie cooking session,sugar cookies, kids get to cut their own and decorate, so the whole kitchen table is used. Also anyone that comes into the house has to put on a Santa or elf or reindeer hat. It kinda forces the mood to be happy & festive & even a little silly.😂
Every year our whole family makes a homemade tree ornament and we get together and play a game where you end up with someone else’s ornament to take home. My grandma started it with just making the ornaments with the grand kids from old Christmas cards over 50 years ago but its progressed over the years to elaborate nice ones
My grandma's nut rolls is out tradition it's basically marshmallow cherrys raisins pecans and graham crackers mixed up and rolled in crushed graham crackers rolled into a log..awesome makes me think of her. She passed at 99 and was a firecracker lol..merry Christmas Rachel
We do the competition also. I started the tradition when are girls were very young. They are in their 50’s now with their own kiddos and we all participate. One year we did an ugly sweater cookie contest. We also make Texas trash every year. Something I remember my mother making every year. (Chex mix)
I started making Magic Cookie Bars for my family when my firstborn was young. Each year my family loves them. And said that’s Christmas. But this year I want be with my family. I’m at my sisters house waiting for kidney stone removal surgery. Hopefully it will happen before Christmas.
At some holidays I make my grandma's potato dinner ro!ls. She was born in 1893 and was the best cook. Hubby and I make photo ornaments each year of the grandkids. He has had lots of health issues and I was really concerned it wouldn't happen this year. But we got them done.
We have these little felt, I call library mice, so cute… we live in the country so I thought the mice were appropriate in a comical way, so this year we are starting a version of elf on the shelf or the find the pickle. We call it “Mouse in the House”. I hide them all month and the person with the most finds at end of season gets a little prize🙂. Also working in some recipes to repeat and look forward too each year.
I'm trying to get through this holiday I lost my mother back in March we lost my father 12 years ago and my sister 20 years ago so it is going to be a tough one this year.
This year I have learned traditions are sometimes broken. We have had Christmas on Christmas Eve for over 40 years. My son got married. His wife wants to be with her family Christmas Eve. So we tried last year to have Christmas without him and his wife. We were sad. This year Christmas will be Jan. 12th. Guess who is sad...me. I will get over it. I do feel they could give in every other year. But I am very thankful we can all be together.
It's very important to remember it's the moments together. We rarely celebrate on the day of anything but chose to avoid chaos, and hurt feelings and allowing space for our children to create their own traditions. So our celebration is next week but it'll be Christmas just the same only a different day ❤️
I have a Monkey Bread Recipe that uses Butterscotch Pudding instead og the Cinnamon & Sugar. You mix the Pudding Powder in some melted Butter & let it rise👍🏼 PS - I have to only type as a reply because YT will not allow me to see the letters I type, but it will show me in red lines when I misspell something, therefor I have to copy & paste as a Reply in order to see what I have typed & fix it...CRAZY❗ #Censorship
Todd…I have a gift idea that you need to get for Rachel! …a step stool! Please buy her one! I about had a heart attack seeing her walking on the edge of the counter there!
Hi I was wondering if you tried out that gluten free recipe for shortbread cookies for your daughter in law that I sent you a while back? It is worth the extra work to make them for sure...
We celebrate Orthodox Christmas, and every year the children put their shoes on the steps outside and they fill them with hay...then St.Nickolas comes ,feeds his donkey the hay and fills their shoes with chocolate coins and little gifts. The tradition comes from the legend that the real St. Nicholas, who was a very wealthy, saved 3 sisters from being sold by their father to save himself from his debt. He left a bag of gold coins in their shoes outside their door and saved them from a life of slavery. Better than reindeer huh?
We had our first grandchild last year. So we started a new tradition this year, we go shopping at second hand stores for books. Whatever age appropriate books or topics they are into, we put together an advent calendar of books. So every night leading up to Christmas he can unwrap a book.
That is such a great idea!! Of course I may only love it so much because I was a librarian for many years, haha! And I've always loved reading. My two children - not so much, I fear all the reading I did to and with them when they were little has fallen to the side with the internet, sigh. But when the kids are very little, they love books still, at least our little three-year-old grandson seems to. :)
Thank you, Rachel, for reminding us that Tradition is about Love.
One of our traditions on Christmas Eve is to do a finger food spread and watch the Grinch. We do steamed shrimp, cut up cheese and bologna, some sort of hot dip, chips and pickles, etc and just line up all the food and pick at it while we watch our Christmas movie. And since it’s all finger foods, it doesn’t really involve any cooking so it’s pretty easy to put together ❤
Our fave low budget tradition is to drive around in our Christmas pajamas looking at Christmas lights and drinking hot chocolate. We also each get a new ornament to open Christmas Eve that reflects that year for each person. We started a cousin Secret Santa this year with all the kids, nieces, and nephews. We want the kids to take more ownership of GIVING instead of just receiving. We make snowman pancakes with sausage link arms and decorate them on Christmas morning. Our neurodivergent kiddo prefers regular pancakes and we make those too. :)
You should really create a book with your recipes and write the stories you attach to the recipes. That would be a great gift for each of your kids.
My mother always made a raisin filled cookie only at Christmas and I have honored her for years making them too only at Christmas.
We always read the story of the birth of Jesus making candies check mix and my child always got to open one gift on Christmas Eve!! Merry Christmas to you and Todd!! Love who you are Rachel!!
Opening 1 present Christmas eve was a childhood tradition for me too, but I chose not to carry that on and we exchanged it for the brother sister gift exchange
First let me say I'm so sorry you lost your childhood friend. But I'm glad you keep her memory alive with her cookie recipe. As a child, we had the tradition of of reading "The Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, one chapter every evening for the week before Xmas. I so love that book still, and we read the book to my son when he was little. We have a mixed household, so we send a few evenings during Hanukkah lighting the menorah, and chanting the hebrew prayer, which I find very mystical and beautiful. And we have our beautiful Christmas tree every year, with the ornaments that go back to before my son was born, and have his very first little handmade ornaments on it, that he made when he was 2 and a half. Thank you Rachel, and have a joyous season!🎄
I have been baking cookies with my daughters since they were young children. Our yearly tradition now includes two young Grandchildren. We take an annual photo in our matching aprons. We make several kinds. It was a wonderful watching the roles turn as they grew up.
We also do the pickle ornament tradition in our home. This now includes inlaws as well. My daughter's always had a Disney Princess tree in their playroom/hangout room growing up. I have now continued that same tree and ornaments with my Granddaughter. We decorate it together. She looks forward to it just as much as I do.
Merry Christmas to you, Todd and family.
The only tradition we had was that of eating oyster stew every Christmas Eve. We all loved it. As for myself, I bring out the Christmas dishes and eat on them the whole month of December. ♥️🙏🏼♥️
We bake cinnamon bread and give it out as gifts. Usually Mini loaves for friends and big for family. My mom and dad started this. It’s my favorite tradition!! My wife and I have carried it on now and people love it and look forward to it.
I've enjoyed baking with you Rachel. All our family holiday traditions are focussed around food and preparing it together. We have all the kids and grandkids for Christmas Eve.With grandkids in college it's hard to get everyone together, so these times are special. Always make the fish dishes my mother made, even though I make less each year, they rather have chicken and pasta. But desserts are a must. The kids help me make cookies all week. We make struffolis, honey balls and whatever favorites they want. Sometimes a game of monopoly.We wind up in the living room sitting on couches and floor enjoying stories of our passed loved ones and childhoods. This year I am blessed to become a grandma again in June. Holiday are sometime hard, but surrounding us with loved ones brings joy. Merry Christmas.
My maternal grandmother always made myself and three siblings whoppie pies. The moment we arrived at their home, we would run into the pantry after the hugs and kisses to grab a whoopie pies. I have carried on that tradition with my own children and now grandchildren..
My Grandmother was the best for all holidays, even the family reunion!! I miss the family gatherings! Now that she's gone, our parents are gone. My siblings are not interested in traditional holidays! My kids have all moved on to there own things and that's fine except for I love the family traditions. So I do what I can with my grandchildren to bake cookies, cakes, pie's. Cook a huge breakfast together!! It's the best!! Love, laughter!! I pray for more traditional holidays!! I hope for everyone to have a blessed holiday!!!
You are making new family traditions for your grandbabies. They will remember forever. God bless and have a great Christmas
Boy can I relate, it's like you are the tradition, and not many want to bother.😢 so just keep being you & shove it down their throats so to speak, when your gone, they'll get & perhaps start their own or carry on yours, that's what I hope for. It's hard being an empty nester. God bless & have a wonderful holiday season!
We love having a family gathering of making the sugar cookies together. For dinner we eat dinner by lantern Mac and cheese and chili for dinner. Then the stockings and the gifts.
We do an annual Cookie Day, second weekend in Dec before the craziness starts. Everyone picks a recipe and we bake them all in one day. We get to see all the kids, and everyone leaves with a variety of cookies. We have the Crock-Pots going for dinner, and drinks for after. It's my favorite day.
Merry Christmas. My husband is making fudge as I watch your video. He makes all the flavors. He's not in the best of health but he gets a certain spark when it's fudge day. Christmas morning we always have biscuits and sausage gravy. It's a treat because it's the only time we have it.
I've been baking gingerbread houses for our kids and their cousins for over 30 years. Then I make a photo book for each of them when they are a young adult. Most times it will include pictures of their spouse helping them decorate their house. It has become special for all of them. ❤
Pizzelles have always been a must for my kids. They're 32 and 29 and still expect them and I'm happy to oblige 😊
my grandfather was a baker. born in Belgium. Lived in California. when we visited our grandparents at Christmas,he had a bottom kitchen drawer that was the cookie drawer. he made beautiful cut out christmas sugar cookies. my sister and I always love those cookies and have the sweet memories.
our new tradition is making chili egg puff for breakfast on Christmas day. and mimosa to drink.
Please, please! Explain chili egg puff! Merry Christmas!
My Bapa was a baker from Poland. He and my Nanny lived in Los Angeles!
What beautiful cookies and precious memories of family traditions! Those cookies are too pretty to eat! 😍
I know, they are just too pretty! But don't worry, they taste good too! 😉
Beautiful video. God bless you and Todd. Merry Christmas and happy New Year. May 2025 be your best year yet.
Our tradition is Christmas Eve we all get together and share appetizers, watch ALL the children open gifts and enjoy each other. Love love love y’all. Merry Christmas 🌲🌲🌲🌲
A tradition for our family is my husband takes each of our children shopping for them to get a gift for their sibling. I always baked homemade caramel rolls for Christmas morning. We also always put a Christmas puzzle together.
why did it come to me that it would be so easy to flip half the mitten cookies over to make pairs, haha!! I think I'd have to try that. :D
My paternal grandmother made banket (Dutch almond pastry) every Christmas Eve. I have taken up the tradition now that I have settled in Texas with my family. Never a complaint about the recipe! 😊
beautiful cookies
Thank you for sharing ❤❤❤
We have the pickle traditional too, along with Christmas tree decorating party, gingerbread house decorating, holiday baking, Grandad (my husband) reading The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve, Crab feed on Christmas Eve, opening 1 present on Christmas Eve, Christmas Breakfast Casserole and fresh baked croissants, always have to have family recipe stuffing, sweet potatoes, ham, mashed potatoes, beef tenderloin, and all the usual desserts.
Love this post so much Rachel.
I’m a little late to commenting but two of my absolute favorite traditions and something we will pass on to our children if we are ever blessed with kids: 1) we always picked a night to go get hot chocolate and drive around and look at Christmas lights and 2) we would ALWAYS turn the Christmas tree off at night but Christmas Eve night we would leave the tree on all night. It never really had anything to do with Santa but more of just the tradition.
One that's been a tradition in our family for ages is the monster cookie, it's a great gluten free cookie because it's mostly oats, but also peanut butter, choc chips, walnuts, mini m and m's, I love them as a breakfast cookie also.
Hey Rachel I honestly can’t begin to tell you how I enjoyed this video of you sharing your stories of growing up a a child and traditions that you all had. It just really touched me in such a wonderful way. Growing up a country boy in a farm, with so many siblings, and such a huge family we really didn’t have traditions of making cookies, and different things like that. I just remember going to my grandparents in my mother’s side in Christmas Eve and having a big dinner with all our family. My grand parents had 78 grandchildren and 60 great grand children, and 48 great great grand children when they past away. It has since changed to many more great great grand children. But they always bought for everyone of us every year no matter if it was a five dollar gift it was allot back then. On my dad’s side of the family they didn’t have traditions like my other grand parents yet there were not as many grand children or great grand children. My mom had 13 brothers and sisters and my dad only had 7. So a big difference. But we nevered gathered the way we did with my other grand parents. It was always about the farm, 365 days a year. They were always things to do and take care of. Milking, gathering eggs, fields with, harvesting way up until the first snow fell on the ground. But it just truly means something to have traditions. I split my holidays as a grand parent with my two children since there is miles between the both of them. Christmas and Thanksgiving gets rotated between them so no one feels left out. I try to always go a few days early to be able to do something special with my grandsons so they can have memories of me. Bring a single grand father who has always did the cooking in my family, and making ask the cookies, the decorations and the ham and turkey. They never complain they just enjoy the time with grand daddy in the kitchen with them. I hope you and Todd have a magical and wonderful holiday season with your family and grand babies.
You broke my heart today, unknowingly. My mom 3 aunt and maternal granny past from breast cancer. I so feel you. I feel your heart. I have a grandson whose pos momma took off with that we can't find. Last I saw him was at 9 months he's over 2 now. My heart is broken. This sweet baby isn't getting any of his heritage and memories that sustain our souls. I'm ashamed to admit I would do damage to my daughter in law who is still married to my so and is living with a sheriff's deputy in garner ks. I gave so much of my heart to her. I am sorely mentally damaged by this. I'm sorry, I just don't have a way.
Memories are the best for sure.❤
On New Years Eve we make s'mores in the wood stove. It started as a camp out in the livingroom when they were toddlers. We always make sugar cookie and gingerbread cookies for Christmas.
We do have several traditions in my family also. With my mother who passed away 25 years ago, we always made hard Christmas candy as a child. I didn’t always love it because it was such a chore, but we have carried on that tradition since her passing. My siblings and I always get together to do that at some point. In my immediate family, I started the tradition with my children that I give them a book and a pair of Christmas pajamas, every Christmas Eve and in the book I write them a letter recapping the year from mommy to them and I have carried that on with good friends children and now my first grandchild’s first Christmas is this year so she will be getting her first book and pajamas. Those books were always an inspirational children’s book about Jesus or the drummer boy or JS for Jesus candycane book the crippled lamb those type of books as they aged, and we ran out of those kind of books to buy. I started giving them recipe books because that is a passion of mine and I wanted to share that passion with my children. We have many more, but those are the two that stand out to me the most.
Since my boys were small I've always made fudge decorate the trees together as a family and done stockings for them. When we started having grand children we still get together as a family and do a tree trimming day and stockings for everyone. We added in Christmas eve box for the grandbabies which had a few staples every year- new pj's, a book, a movie (usually holiday to help the parent build their collection) popcorn and hot cocoa. I love hearing about your traditions and watching you make your cut out cookies every year! Merry Christmas!
Those sound like wonderful traditions, and I love that you've passed them on to your grandchildren!
Hi Rachel. You do the most best cookies for Christmas 🎄. Another thing I want to say to you and Todd. Your both wonderful and amazing people. God Bless you Rachel and Todd. Happy Holidays to you and your family. Love you both. HUGS 🤗❤️💙. Mari'a. 💙💙💙❤️❤️❤️🤗🤗🤗🎄🎄🎄👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you for sharing💚Merry Christmas🎄 your videos have inspired me in so many ways.
We used to do the pickle ornament tradition when I was a kid! My mother is fluent in German, and many of my ancestors are from Germany, so we love all of the German traditions. We also used to make a big batch of Risalamande(rice pudding with crushed almonds in it PLUS one whole almond). Whoever got the one whole almond got a giant Toblerone bar. It's a Danish tradition. My father is fluent in Danish and his side is mainly from Denmark, so we love their traditions as well.
I do Christmas Eve jammies and read The Night Before Christmas. ❤
That’s a wonderful tradition! I love that you blend the traditions of both sides of your family.
This might be the best video ever. I have a granddaughter in the Navy.
Thank you ♥
I’m sorry for your losses of your precious loved ones. I think it’s great to foster their memory by making traditions that honor them. I’ve always admired your cookie decorating skills, I can see how those would win the contest!
My cookie tradition is Mexican Wedding Cookies, those are my favorite. I’m making a lot of non traditional(for me) cookies and candies this year, just for fun. We always have Christmas breakfast with a special brand of ham my husband cooks low all night, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, Italian sausages with peppers, fried kielbasa and lots of other treats. We have the kids, grandkids and extended family over and open presents before we eat. Lots of work for us old people, lol! But it’s a lot of fun as well.
Excellent video. Boy if that Christmas Tree could talk... Merry Christmas to all.
Other than my 1st Christmas tree 55 years ago (all homemade ornaments and popcorn strings) this is the most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen. Magical. Merry Christmas 🎄 🙏
Thank you! That’s so sweet!🎄
Merry Christmas! I make peanut butter balls every year and that is something that is tradition in my home!
Merry Christmas 🎄 a beautiful video thanks for sharing ❤
Thank you so much for the great video,watching you make and decorate cookies is heart warming.MERRY CHRISTMAS
Thanks for the lovely video. Our traditions are; every Nov 30th night I put up the tree (when the kids were young they'd wake up the next morning asking who put up the tree and were so excited, it was Christmas magic), we would decorate the tree together, we cook gingerbread together every year, do a home made advent calendar. My son was just asking today "when are we doing our cookies, it's tradition." ❤
Love it!
My kids are still young, but we have a few traditions. We celebrate Advent, light the candles each night and do a family devotional with different activities (we have a book). We also make a gingerbread house together at the beginning of December which always starts out good, than turns into a beautiful, fun mess! I also make cookies to hand out at church every year.
1 cup soft butter, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla,,3 cups flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt,beat butter 2 mi, till creamy slowly add sugar,,beat, slowly add flour, salt ,divide in 2, wrap in plastic,chill 1 hr,bake 350’8-10 minutes,frosting,,1 16 oz, powder sugar,,3 Tablespoons meringue powder,,5-6 Tablespoons warm water,,1 teaspoon light corn syrup,mix, food coloring,,mix first 4 ingredients, 5-7 minutes,❤
I created the tradition of decorating cookies with my children and now my grandchildren. They range from 4-27 and they all look forward to it. We try our very best to get everyone and although it doesn't always work, we always have a great time with whomever can make it. We were supposed to have it today but my area had a bit of an ice storm and so it will be tomorrow. This was a beautiful heart felt video and really helped me reflect on what else we can do with intention. Your cookies were so bright and beautiful!
I too made a Christmas Cookie Tradition with my children having them help me mix up the Sugar Cookie Batter & letting them use the Cookie Cutters to make the shapes...fun stuff❗👍🏼
Rachel, this whole video made me cry!! I have the same sentimental feelings with my cookie baking and my mixer that I only use for the Christmas cookies. Christmas is always a time for trying to keep traditions alive and reflection. May you and your entire family have a joyous wonderful holiday season and a prosperous year ahead. Thank you for letting us be a part of your lives :)
It means so much to me that you feel the same way.
@@1870s Love.
@@1870s Love that you and Todd share so much with all of us
Loved this video!! ❤ Merry Christmas 🎄and PLEASE thank your daughter for her service for me from Oregon 🇺🇲
Thank you and Merry Christmas! I will pass your thanks along to my daughter. 🎄
Tradition is so important. Just a fun video! Enjoyed viewing your cookie making and wise insight to keeping our family traditions. Great job encouraging me. Sugar cookies can be so much work I always think "do I want to do them again" This year I will enjoy it more seeing that traditions will be remembered by all who have enjoyed my cookies in the years past. Thank you and have a Merry Christmas!
Oh, Rachel! The tradition thing really hit my heart!❤ We always had dutch babies on Christmas morning. I carried that to my motherhood. Traditions keep the family fire burning. I gotta find a tissue 😢
I make my moms Christmas ice box cookies every year as well as my sisters fudge. We also go on Christmas Eve to look at Christmas lights.
So we are Italian, and my daughter married a German man and she bought the pickle to start that tradition with her family! She’s now due with her first child! That’s such a fun thing! I started a cinnamon roll tradition with my girls!
❤
Thanks for sharing your traditions Rachel.
It’s a time to celebrate Jesus. That’s what Christmas is all about. His love for us! What he did for us because he loves us unconditionally. That’s what touches us so deeply only Gods love can do that. Our traditions touch our hearts and I believe that’s God. Merry Christmas. 🎄❤️🥰
Wounderful video Rachel it touched my heart. My children when they were young and now my grandkids bake cookies together and do Christmas ornaments. Christmas and Easter are my favorite Holidays. God’s blessings on You ,Todd and family this Christmas 🎄
When I was little- my grandma had all of us at her house. She made peppernuts- a recipe her mom made, way back to the late 1800s. I’ve taken over making them since the 80s, and this year my 34 yr old son has started making them as well. 😊 The smell of all the spices and extracts will always take my family back to Christmases at home in snowy SD. ❤
I always purchase an ornament for my family members that is meaningful for them, a special event or an interest they had during the year. This way when my children leave the home they would have a collection of ornaments representing their life for their own tree. I hand them out at Thanksgiving.
I also get together with High School friends over the holidays to break bread. Christmas Eve is always held at our home. My children were always allowed to pick one gift to open on Christmas Eve.
I did that too, they inherited their ornaments from moms tree as they established their own families but they'll admit moms tree isn't quite the same without all their ornaments on it
Apple and corn fritters on Christmas morning!
for many, many years, it's been butter tarts!!!
This was beautiful, Rachel. Thankyou! Merry Christmas!💕
I always try the wk of xmas to have a cookie cooking session,sugar cookies, kids get to cut their own and decorate, so the whole kitchen table is used. Also anyone that comes into the house has to put on a Santa or elf or reindeer hat. It kinda forces the mood to be happy & festive & even a little silly.😂
Making sugar cookies and then frosting them with my daughter and granddaughters!!!! Merry Christmas Rachel and your fam!!!
Sounds like a wonderful Christmas tradition!
Every year our whole family makes a homemade tree ornament and we get together and play a game where you end up with someone else’s ornament to take home. My grandma started it with just making the ornaments with the grand kids from old Christmas cards over 50 years ago but its progressed over the years to elaborate nice ones
My grandma's nut rolls is out tradition it's basically marshmallow cherrys raisins pecans and graham crackers mixed up and rolled in crushed graham crackers rolled into a log..awesome makes me think of her. She passed at 99 and was a firecracker lol..merry Christmas Rachel
We do the competition also. I started the tradition when are girls were very young. They are in their 50’s now with their own kiddos and we all participate. One year we did an ugly sweater cookie contest.
We also make Texas trash every year. Something I remember my mother making every year. (Chex mix)
Christmas afternoon tea party. We try to use the children tea sets. Cookies and tea. Boys and girls both enjoying the party.
I started making Magic Cookie Bars for my family when my firstborn was young. Each year my family loves them. And said that’s Christmas. But this year I want be with my family. I’m at my sisters house waiting for kidney stone removal surgery. Hopefully it will happen before Christmas.
At some holidays I make my grandma's potato dinner ro!ls. She was born in 1893 and was the best cook.
Hubby and I make photo ornaments each year of the grandkids. He has had lots of health issues and I was really concerned it wouldn't happen this year. But we got them done.
My son is also a military and is far, far away somewhere since August
We have these little felt, I call library mice, so cute… we live in the country so I thought the mice were appropriate in a comical way, so this year we are starting a version of elf on the shelf or the find the pickle. We call it “Mouse in the House”. I hide them all month and the person with the most finds at end of season gets a little prize🙂.
Also working in some recipes to repeat and look forward too each year.
I'm trying to get through this holiday I lost my mother back in March we lost my father 12 years ago and my sister 20 years ago so it is going to be a tough one this year.
I lost my Mom in March, as well. 😢 Prayers for you 🙏
@maryh8230 Same to you.
This year I have learned traditions are sometimes broken. We have had Christmas on Christmas Eve for over 40 years. My son got married. His wife wants to be with her family Christmas Eve. So we tried last year to have Christmas without him and his wife. We were sad. This year Christmas will be Jan. 12th. Guess who is sad...me. I will get over it. I do feel they could give in every other year. But I am very thankful we can all be together.
It's very important to remember it's the moments together. We rarely celebrate on the day of anything but chose to avoid chaos, and hurt feelings and allowing space for our children to create their own traditions. So our celebration is next week but it'll be Christmas just the same only a different day ❤️
I made cutout tea cakes very close to your recipe. Found the recipe 1969 at Library.
Our son is 82nd airborne and will not be home for Christmas this year. This is the first year he won't be here and it feels so achy and strange.
❤Bless you. I have been in this situation and it hurts so very much.
I think most traditions come about organically. Sometimes it is the least expected things become tradition.
👍🏼
I have a Monkey Bread Recipe that uses Butterscotch Pudding instead og the Cinnamon & Sugar. You mix the Pudding Powder in some melted Butter & let it rise👍🏼
PS - I have to only type as a reply because YT will not allow me to see the letters I type, but it will show me in red lines when I misspell something, therefor I have to copy & paste as a Reply in order to see what I have typed & fix it...CRAZY❗
#Censorship
Cuteness
I have to say not any traditional things we ever did growing up.I really didn’t have any with my son either
Todd…I have a gift idea that you need to get for Rachel! …a step stool! Please buy her one! I about had a heart attack seeing her walking on the edge of the counter there!
Hi I was wondering if you tried out that gluten free recipe for shortbread cookies for your daughter in law that I sent you a while back? It is worth the extra work to make them for sure...
Not yet!
Where did you get the salt bowl? Do you know who the maker is?
Pioneer woman many years ago
@ I love it!! Thank you for letting me know. I have a mid matched set of her dishes and when I wash them it’s like going to an art gallery 🥰
We celebrate Orthodox Christmas, and every year the children put their shoes on the steps outside and they fill them with hay...then St.Nickolas comes ,feeds his donkey the hay and fills their shoes with chocolate coins and little gifts.
The tradition comes from the legend that the real St. Nicholas, who was a very wealthy, saved 3 sisters from being sold by their father to save himself from his debt. He left a bag of gold coins in their shoes outside their door and saved them from a life of slavery. Better than reindeer huh?
What a great tradition! Love it ♥
Sugar cookies and pretzels dipped into melted chocolates.
I buy a powder organic red dye at Amazon.
Thanks for the tip
I raised my children the same way Rachel. They were best friends into their early fifties. Then came politics. 😭😭
❤