Christmas Recipes

In my current book-free state I have been contemplating Christmas recipes. This began when Anne Gracie asked me about which recipe I thought she should make for a certain occasion.

It snowballed from there.

Well, here it snowballed. In Australia, I gather, it would be sizzling instead. Even I, who grew up in California, have trouble imagining a Christmas where things routinely melt. We never melted at Christmas. Though it wasn't ever really "cold" on the coast, it was often damp and shivery all the way to the bone.

Anyway, the discussion of recipes, and the arrival of two of her best for me to experiment with, has led me to contemplate my own favorite Christmas recipes.

There is a date bar recipe of my mother's I'm very fond of (and which the family story reminds me that when my mom sent them to my stepdad's grandmother for Christmas the first year they were married, she got a lovely note back thanking her for the little meat pies). Then there's her lemon bars recipe. And the spritz recipe from the spritz maker gizmo, and the cut-out Christmas cookies with the bit of orange peel and mace.

And just last week we made the orange-cranberry cookies which I suggested to Anne would make brilliant Christmas cookies, only to discover that Australia doesn't do cranberries. At least not fresh ones. Poor deprived people. I don't suppose they get the same effect using Vegemite.

So . . . this brings me to a question.

What are your favorite Christmas recipes -- for cookies or for whatever else you habitually make at this time of year?

I need to start thinking about getting these things done because soon there will be revisions. And I should take advantage of the time I have now. I'll be making my traditional cookies and breads and other goodies. But I like to broaden my horizons.

So share your best recipes, please. I could use some great new ideas to add to the ones I make year after year.