Nibble, nibble like a mouse! Who's that nibbling at my newly baked cookies? The wonderful aroma of a warm, crisp fresh holiday cookie is more tempting to the senses than any hot-blooded woman, man or child has the will power to turn away. What makes these cookies so pleasant to the eye, nose and tongue? Many say it's the ingredients, but I say it's
the sense of comfort and tradition that are mixed into this holiday labor of love.

What would Christmas be without baking some of Great-grandma's cookie recipes that she brought from her native country? While some bakers consider the staple chocolate chip cookie a special treat during the holiday, I prefer to share holiday cookies with a more special flare.
Why bake the kind of cookies that get you through the rest of the year at holiday time when you can put a little extra effort into making those slightly more time consuming cookies? Okay, these do take a little extra time and the holiday schedule can get pretty tight. But when you consider the value of your heritage being passed down another generation, this alone can make the work more meaningful and, not to mention, a fun way to bond with the little cooks in the family.

Each region of the world has some holiday cookies that are unique to that culture. Who knows how or why people made special food and special cookies for the holidays? But somehow the Polish people made Kolaczki, the Scandinavians made Krumkage, and Germans invented Spritz cookies. And some cookies, like the lemon cookie and Italian sprinkle cookie, are tied to both culture and religion.

One way to keep holiday cookie traditions alive in your household and encourage your friends to do likewise is to host a Holiday Cookie Exchange. Explain the idea when you invite your guests. Each guest or couple is to bake and bring the special holiday cookies of their family. Each brings 2 batches or about 10 dozen cookies. Half the cookies are for taste-testing during the party and the rest of the cookies are divided for exchange. Everyone brings home about a half dozen of each kind of cookie and gets to share in the delight of the special holiday treats. Another great feature of this type of party is that you can create a booklet of holiday cookie recipes. Simply ask everyone to bring along the recipe for their cookies. After the holidays, you can assemble a neighborhood ethnic cookbook of holiday treats. Do remember to check with guests before the party about which cookies they are planning to bring so that there won't be too many duplicates.

Cookies make for a wonderful way to keep heritage and tradition alive during the holidays. While ethnic cookies take more effort than easy-to-bake cookies, the extra magic ingredient that makes them so special is love

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