As a young child, I didn’t make Christmas cookies with my grandmother, Amelia, “Ma” Mattas Mize. She, her husband, Dave and several of their children were in California. They were there in the 1940s during and after World War II.

L-r: Vincia Mize, Ma, her daughters-law, Clara, Doris, and grandaughter, Margie Mize. Circa, 1940s in California.

In 1948, the year I was born, she spent time writing and pasting recipes in a date book. In December of that year, a long way from her home in snowy South Dakota, I imagine she baked. 

I found this recipe, “Kris Kringle Cut-Outs” in that book. I never made these cookies with her, but I use the recipe. It is my handwritten comment from 1988.

This year, seventy-five years from the date of the cookbook, I will use the cookie recipe again. Her great grandchildren will help me decorate them. 

Cookies cooling on paper bags in my kitchen. Circa 2021