One of my fondest memories of the Advent season was my grandmother baking cakes and cookies, especially fruit cookies. These cookies were special, and I used to imagine they gave me super powers. I would climb my favorite tree with a pocketful of cookies, eat them slowly and imagine how to save the world from my lofty perch. My grandmother passed down the recipe to my mother, who gave it to Suzy right before we married.
For years, I would cut up the candied fruit and bake the cookies with a lot of help from Suzy. We came close to my grandmother’s cookies but never quite the same. Maybe my grandmother failed to mention that she added a little bourbon to the recipe like she used to add to her fruit cakes. (My grandfather claimed the bourbon was a preservative).
Some things are never the same as we remember, and isn’t that a good thing. Memories are supposed to be special. We all have our own special memories about the Advent season some pretty funny and silly, and some so special they stay with us forever. This year take some time to draw on those memories maybe with a cup of egg nog or hot buttered rum by the fire.
Yes, Advent is a season of anticipation and excitement, but it is also a time to remember what was and is special in your life. The smells emanating from my grandmother’s kitchen were some of my best.
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