A Tradition of Sprinkles
Growing up for me, Christmas was always different. We never really made concrete plans for the day. Some years grandparents would come and visit, and some years it was just me and my family. Some years there were multitudes of gifts, and some years there were just a few carefully chosen treasures. I think I enjoyed that aspect of the holiday season. We never really knew what to expect. There was only one guarantee for our holidays every year, and that was the festive decoration of cookies with sprinkles. Every year Mom made batch upon batch of sugar cookies, and we would all gather around the kitchen table, lined with waxed paper, and sprinkle frosted sugar cookies.
With four other siblings, the sprinkle variety had to have substance. There had to be at least two tubs of sprinkles per child or the fighting would ensue. To this day, I still remember my mom telling all of us to go easy on the sprinkles — no one wanted to bite into a mountain of sprinkles underneath which a cookie lurked somewhere. Secretly, of course, that was the cookie we all wanted, the one with the pile of sprinkles.
This is one tradition that I am happy to share with my children. Their eyes light up the second they see the cookie cutters come out. Both of them always insist on cutting some cookies, but they quickly tire of that process. It takes too long; what they really want is to decorate the cookies with sprinkles. So while the cookies are cooling, they are looking over the variety of sprinkles, choosing what is to be their favorite. And in true Mom fashion, the variety includes at least 12 different kinds of sprinkles and several colors of sanding sugars. The second the cookies are cool, frosting is whipped up with several different colors, and Mom becomes the frosting machine, doling out the different shapes and colors to each child equitably. In no time at all, cookies are sprinkled, faces are full of smears from the many “tastes” that must take place, and no doubt, there is a collection embedded in the carpet. Every year as I watch my children bite into their first decorated cookie, I am immediately transported to Christmases with my brothers and sisters, and all I can do is smile. It’s amazing to me, the power of a sprinkle.
