In the Schutte household, once you’ve done something once, it suddenly becomes a tradition. Michigan vacation in July? Tradition. Mashed-potato pizza for Christmas Eve? Tradition. Stomach bug in February? Definitely tradition. Of course, traditions shift, ebbing and flowing with changing seasons and family needs, and while the ones mentioned above — along with many others — have morphed or disappeared over time (except the mashed-potato pizza — mutiny would ensue if it didn’t make its annual December appearance), they hold a sacred place in our memories.
Our robust Christmas cookie process is, alas, a tradition that has ebbed rather dramatically in recent years. Its heyday, however, was glorious, and every family member had his or her favorite treat. Mom and Dad loved tea time tassies (half without pecans), and Dad would sit and carefully craft each mini pie himself. Orange-chocolate meltaways are hugely popular, as are buckeyes (the better version of a Reese’s cup). My personal passion was for Snickers candy, and I managed to ruin it at least twice with attempts at making my own caramel for one of the layers. Sprinkled into this lineup — depending on the year — were Santa cookies made with Nutter Butters (or, alternately, penguin cookies, also made with Nutter Butters), chocolate sandwich cookies, rosette cookies, raspberry bars, lemon bars, and more.
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