By Deb Kroon
Review Staff Writer
Traditions are a major part of Christmas family fun. This is just the case for Mark and Pam Luettel and their family. Joyce Erdman and her family had baked Christmas cookies as a family for as long as Pam could remember. Joyce had special pans they used repeatedly throughout the years. These pans are aluminum foil and have the shapes of stars, Santa, Christmas trees and bells molded right into the pan. When Pam and Mark got married, they continued on with the tradition, borrowing Joyce’s pans. For the first years it was Pam and Mark making cookies. “There were lots of cookies to frost, especially for just the two of us. It seems like we made a lot of them,” commented Mark. As Mark and Pam’s family grew, Jennifer, Keith, Corey and Lindsay got to join in and make the tradition once again a full family affair.
This year great-grandmother Joyce joined in on the after Thanksgiving fun. Jennifer; Corey, Tara (Balster) and their family-Ainsley, Oliver and Leo; and Lindsay, Bruce, Ian Aiden and Ava were all home for Thanksgiving and stayed home to help with cookies. On the day after Thanksgiving, Pam got up around 5:30 a.m. to begin to put the cookie dough together. The cookie recipe is Mark’s mom’s (Phil Luettel) recipe, making it a complete family affair. About 6:30, Pam was joined by granddaughter Ainsley (Corey and Tara’s oldest). The rest of the family was up and ready to start making cookies by 8:00 a.m. Everyone is included (even Leo, who is in a high chair) and most spend the morning in their p.js (part of the tradition). With eight grandchildren and their parents, it has become a morning party!
A small ball of dough is put into the shapes in the pans (Pam has bought two of her own, so they now total four) for the kids to smooth out over the shape. After all the cookies are baked, they all settle around the table to begin the decorating. Everyone has an assigned job- Pam makes the frosting and it is put into containers and colored by another adult. With supervision and help from a few of the adults, the frosting is put on with care. It is not acceptable to just swish the frosting on. It has to be carefully spread on so no frosting is hanging off the sides of the cookie. Each shape gets it’s own color, red (pink) is for Santa, green is for the trees, yellow is for the stars and blue for the bells. Pam commented that they had problems with the red color this year. It wouldn’t go red, so this year the santas are pink! The colors are not mixed, unless it’s down to the end and they start to run out of one color, then it is okay to mix. The santas are first. “We hate the santas,” said Mark. “They are the easiest to break. We have figured out that if you turn the cookie upside down and frost the rough side, the frosting stays on better and they don’t break as easily.” I guess after 42 years, you learn something!
Grandma Pam keeps the frosting coming while Jennifer is in charge of the clean-up. For the most part, the older members of the Luettel clan do the frosting. Great-Grandma Joyce, along with Corey and Grandpa Mark did the frosting. After the cookies are frosted, the kids take over, with Tara, Emily and Lindsay helping. Each grandchild is given a 9 x 13 pan (something else they have figured out in 42 years). The cookie is placed into the pan for decorating. The kids are given different colored sugars and sprinkles to put onto the cookies. There are many techniques involved with the decorating. Some precisely put the sprinkles on and carefully sprinkle a color over the top. The next one just dumps with abandon! The 9 x 13 pans collect the extras that would otherwise end up all over the kitchen. Really great thinking!
The “mover” takes over next. This year the “mover” was Lindsay’s husband Bruce. His job is to take the finished cookies and move them to the drying table where they are left to set up. All the shapes are kept together. Great organization! After all the cookies are baked, frosted and decorated, the grandkids pick out their “favorite “ cookie and family pictures are taken with each one holding their favorite. “It’s pretty funny,” commented Mark, “All through decorating you hear, ‘this is my favorite, no this is my favorite.’ The favorites keep changing as the cookies are lined up.”
Any time one of the families are not able to come home, Grandma Pam puts some of the cookies aside and she and Grandpa travel to visit the next weekend to finish the cookies with that family. This year they traveled to the Twin Cities to Keith and Emily’s house to decorate with their children, Blake and Elliet. I asked if this was only done as tradition at their house, and Pam replied that Corey had found the pans online and they have started their own tradition as well as keeping up with the tradition in Adrian.
“It’s a fun tradition,” Pam said. “It’s fun to see how my grandchildren are similar to their parents. One of the boys didn’t like to be dirty growing up and one of his children is just like that. Another one places the sprinkles on one by one, just like his father.” They know how lucky they are to be able to continue this tradition with this newer generation of Luettels. “Everyone really looks forward to this each year. I think the adults are as excited as the kids. Everyone helps! It takes all of us to keep this tradition alive, to keep it as a family affair.” Mark and Pam are blessed to have so many grandchildren, in-laws and children that love to get together each year todo this special something as a family. It is a tradition that will continue for many years to come!
