Christmas Memories: Christmas Eve Goodies

Day 46

The last few days I have blogged about some of my favorite Christmas traditions and now I will share another one that I have not done for many years.

When I lived in Edmonton, every Christmas Eve my family and I got together and we went around delivering plates of treats to some of the people we know. We would just knock on the door and run, leaving the plate of goodies on the steps. These were not your ordinary treats either. This was a huge plate loaded with my dad's famous Baklava (Baklava is a Greek pastry. Loaded with butter, honey and chopped nuts and topped with a clove), my mom's famous Snowball cookies and Grandma Anhder's famous Fruitcake.


I remember one Christmas Eve in particular when we also picked up a Christmas tree and delivered it anonymously to a set of newlyweds that were very poor. It felt good delivering these treats. And the smell of Baklava cooking fills the house and just reminds me of those simpler times.

I asked my mom for those recipes so I can post them here. During this week I am going to attempt to make some of them. The Snowball cookies are the easiest to make so I am going to start there. These recipes originated from my Aunt Helen. Yet again, I am stealing an idea from a fellow blogger. Thanks Jennifer!


SNOWBALL COOKIES

1 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
2 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Finely Chopped Pecans
Confectioners Sugar

Bream butter, sugar and vanilla till fluffy. Add flour and salt to creamed mixture blending thoroughly.
Add pecans and mix well. Shape into one-inch balls and place on baking sheet.

Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes. Do not brown, they should be light. Cool and then roll in powdered sugar. Yields about 6 dozen.

I'll have to let you know how they turned out.