Hello my Foodie Friends!

This is my fun time of year and has been since my childhood. Mom would be baking Italian cookies and pastries daily during the month of December. The cookies would get eaten so fast that they didn’t have much time to cool. There were five cookie monsters running around the Reardon household and three in Paula’s house. Cooking and baking smells were a daily occurrence and the excitement kept building up for the day the man in the white beard stopped by to get his cookies and leave something for the sweet, angelic little Reardon kids!

Everyone knows that baking is part of the holiday season. Italian cookies are a wonderful gift for family and friends. There are many types of Italian cookies made by people worldwide. Secret family recipes that have been around for over 50 years are usually delivered nationwide to hand out. Holly Wreaths were always my favorite Italian cookie to make with my mother. Our family really values certain traditions derived from our Italian culture and heritage. Both Paula and my grandparents came over from Italy! However, as I have been reminded by my wife, my family came from Sicily and that’s not Italy (?!). Is that true? Anyway, we try to hand down our Italian heritage to our children. Although we do not speak the language, we do try to cook some of the dishes we have learned over the years. We absolutely adore Italian cookies and remember our childhood memories of watching our mothers and grandmothers bake holiday cookies. The kitchen was filled with the wonderful aroma as tray after tray of cookies came out of the oven.

Enjoy your family baking traditions. It is always important to include personal traditions that everyone can love. Creating simple traditions makes holiday memories priceless. You can almost guarantee that your family will continue the tradition for generations to come. Stop in to 33 Railroad Place and say Buon Natale to the Reardon Family! We also have all types of cookie cutters shapes for your delicious sugar cookie creations. 

Happy Holiday Traditions! Remember my Foodie Friends: “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula