At some point after I moved to New Mexico, when I would fly home for Christmas (usually the week before Christmas) my mom and I would stop off at her sister’s house for lunch. My Auntie Virgie and Uncle Mark lived not far from O’Hare and Mom’s other sister, my Auntie Janice, would come as well.

I loved sitting at the table with all of them, hearing their stories. And when I moved back to New Mexico, taking Mom with me, the tradition ended. Uncle Mark died about seven months after we moved and then Mom died about five months after that. Suddenly, the tradition was just a memory, but one I am lucky to have. We can’t ever get the time back with our loved ones.

Every year Auntie Virgie bakes up a storm of Christmas cookies and for me she would fill a small green tin with candy canes on it and give it to me. I’d keep it until the next Christmas and we would repeat the process. I had two favorites: her pecan balls and a refrigerator cookie that’s so light it melts in your mouth.

I tried the recipe with walnuts, not being much of a pecan fan, but this year I realized there is no replacement for the pecans. They give the balls the great flavor that make them hard to stop eating.

Auntie Virgie’s Pecan Balls

6 Tablespoons shortening

½ cup butter

¼ cup confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon milk

2 cups sifted flour

2 cups coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Cream shortening and butter together, add sugar and cream until light. Add vanilla and milk, blend well. Mix in flour and nuts to creamed mixture, blend well. Roll into small balls. Bake 25-30 minutes until lightly browned at 325 degrees. Cool and roll in confectioner’s sugar.

These cookies are not going to win any awards for presentation and I definitely wouldn’t invite Gordon Ramsey over to eat any. But they represent something else to me: Mom.

Every year this was the one item on the list we could count on Mom to do at Christmastime, even in the last years when she didn’t go out to buy us cards. At least she still made the cookies. When her original Mirro cookie press broke, we found her a new one at an antique store.

But I will be the first to admit they are not my favorite recipe to make simply because of the cookie press. The dough has to be at an exact temperature for the cookies to come out perfectly. I used the trigger-operated press once but I never found it to be easier to use and now that Mom has died, I have her second generation press.

However, if I wanted any of her cookies this year, I had to make them. While the they are made of cookie basics (flour, sugar, butter), these also have almond extract which gives them that distinct flavor. And in my laziness, I combined the two colors of dough but found that they actually create tie-dye looking cookies.

Mostly, this was about eating the cookies and tasting the memories that came with them.

Mirro Cookie Press Recipe

2 ½ cups flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon almond extract

green and red food coloring

decorating candies

Sift together flour and baking powder. Cream butter; add sugar gradually and cream thoroughly. Beat in egg, almond extract, and food coloring. Gradually blend in dry ingredients. Fill cookie press. Form cookies on ungreased baking sheet. Decorate with candies. Bake 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 6-7 dozen cookies.