by Mary Seifert
Our family looks forward to distinct holiday traditions. They are part of the Christmas glue that brings our geographically scattered family together each year. The day after our Thanksgiving feast, with whomever is in attendance, we travel into the countryside to collect our real tree. With the smell of a Frazer fir filling the house, I can close my eyes and imagine the rest of December, but the real work happens with the help of the elves.
Now, of course, instead of our children, the elves are our grandchildren. We decorate the tree with lights and ornaments some of which are entering their seventh decade. The nutcracker collection is lined up while sipping marshmallow frosted hot chocolate or cinnamon apple cider and nibbling on grandma’s fresh-out-of-the-oven sugar cookies, baked from a century old recipe. With snowflakes often drifting past our windows, the fireplace is lit, and carols play softly in the background. We set up our creche, often breaking up animated discussions about who gets to place the camel, with one dim bulb shining on the scene, lending a reverent nod to the reason for the season. The youngest among us places the Baby Jesus in the manger, and we sit back to admire our handiwork, giving thanks for our blessings. The sun sets early at this time of year, and when everyone is satisfied with the look of the tree, grandma turns off the house lights and grandpa flips on the tree and table lights to oohs and aahs.
The rest of the preparation is Yuletide frosting. We stand our pristine candles in our Advent wreath, hoping they might last, burning through each Sunday meal until Christmas. We pull out the cartons of Christmas books, reading one or two every day, some classic like A Christmas Carol or ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and children’s books like Elf and Merry Christmas, Corduroy, including new additions made each year.
Familiar food grounds us, and after attending our Christmas Eve service, simmering on our stove is the staple—French onion soup—and divinity for dessert. It’s rare that we make either at any other time of the year. Although I’m not known for my culinary expertise, (I can almost boil a pot of water), my Christmas recipes I can make by heart, and they’re not half bad if I do say so myself.
Santa flies in and out, but not with as much flourish as when we had our own children home, and Christmas day is a rest day before back to reality. What do you do every holiday season?
For 2026, I wish you new friends, the taste of delicious food, the warmth of old memories, and the ease of a good book.
Great-great-grandma Hazel’s Sugar Cookies
1 C shortening (Crisco)
1 C granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cream of tartar
Beat shortening, sugar, salt, egg, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add flour, soda, and cream of tartar. Roll into small balls and dip tops in sugar. Flatten with a glass dipped in (more) sugar. Make as thin as you like. Bake at 350° until the slightest tinge of tan appears around the edges (not very long—my oven usually takes nine minutes, but every oven is different).
Enjoy!
ABOUT MARY SEIFERT
Mary Seifert is the mastermind behind the captivating Katie and Maverick Cozy Mysteries, a 2024 International IMPACT Award winner for books in a series. If you love a thrilling whodunit with a sprinkle of humor and a dash of charm, her books are for you. Her novel Maverick, Movies & Murder was a finalist for the 2023 American Fiction Award, and Santa, Snowflakes & Strychnine earned a spot as a 2024 Chanticleer Murder and Mayhem finalist. Set in the picturesque landscapes of West Central Minnesota, where the lakes begin, Mary’s stories are as cozy as a warm cup of cocoa on a chilly day.
Mary’s love affair with books began in her grandfather’s secretive basement backroom library, where she read childhood favorites, Heidi, Black Beauty, National Velvet, Charlotte’s Web, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and devoured works by literary greats such as Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Erle Stanley Gardner, Wouk, Chandler, du Maurier, Ellery Queen, Margaret Mitchell, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Salinger, Bradbury, Tolkien, and Pasternak, to name just a few. These early literary adventures, combined with lively book discussions with her mother and siblings helped shape her love for mysteries and complex narratives. Her father’s gift of outrageous storytelling added exaggeration to her arsenal, lending a playful twist to her writing.
Mary grounded her passion for storytelling when she shared her love of reading with her children, solving puzzles alongside beloved characters like Nancy Drew, the Boxcar Children, and the Hardy Boys, and that passion is growing, watching the next generation learn to read. She proudly believes her kids, their significant others, and her grandchildren are the smartest in the universe, and she’s not shy about letting the world know it!
