When I was a little girl, we spent every holiday in a little farm town, in west-central Ohio where my mom grew up. My 
grandparents still lived in the house where my grandma was raised–the house that her father had built. They were farm people, with a German background. Food was central to all occasions and required real, old fashioned butter as a central ingredient.
These cookies are my first memory of Christmas cookies at Grandma’s house. As I grew older, baking cut out cookies and decorating them became an annual family tradition that I continue to carry on with my own children. When my grandma passed away four years ago, her cookie cutters were bequeathed to me, joining my own collection. We now have more than 40 holiday shapes, several with their own memory.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday,
Betsy
