Baking Our Way Through The Holiday Season
Unable to enjoy many of our normal holiday traditions, we had to come up with something different this year.
I love the Christmas season, and I say that with a lot of fervor. I love the decorations, smells, ugly sweaters, and activities with my family.
I grew up in a family that embraced Christmas traditions. We enjoyed the enormous holiday lights display in the town. We always decorated lots of cookies. And on Christmas Eve, we would gather at my aunt’s house for a meal of oyster stew and topped off the evening with a recitation of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by one of my cousins.
Moving to a suburb of Chicago opened up a whole new world of holiday traditions with my own children. Every year, we would go to the Christmas Around the World tree display at the Museum of Science & Industry, and the lights display at the Arboretum. We would have an elaborate breakfast with the Grinch through the park district. We would gather with friends for cookie exchanges or other holiday parties.
This year, because of COVID-19, our holiday merriment had to look different.
Sure, I could still decorate the house, and our Elf on the Shelf arrived (though he had to spend 14 days quarantined in a mason jar). The…
