A tradition sweet as family
For more than 30 years, the Sibleys' Christmas has meant cookies.
By GAIL DIEDERICH, Times Correspondent
Published December 24, 2007
Mildred Mattix reaches for a buttered rum shortbread cookie, takes a bite and smiles. The toasty warm Santa's whiskers cookie will have to wait a while.
Mildred, 95, is the oldest of four generations that came together recently to bake cookies, something her family has been doing every December for close to 35 years.
Mildred was named the "official taster" of this year's cookie baking spree at the Hudson home of her daughter and son-in-law, Brenda and Roy Sibley. A standing tradition, the cookie baking continues to build memories, right to the youngest member of the group, 6-year-old Kelsey Sibley, who joined sisters Kristen, 13, and Karlee 11, in the mixing, rolling, cutting, baking and eating. The girls, daughters of Debbie and Greg Sibley, are Mildred's great-grandchildren.
"How many cookies have you eaten?" Brenda Sibley asks her mother.
"Two," says Mildred and reaches for another of the shortbread kind after considering a colorful cookie that resembles a miniature fruitcake.
Brenda turns to see what daughter Pam and daughter-in-law Debbie are making next. Brenda, who's sort of the coordinator of the operation, asks Pam to check the oven, offers helpful suggestions to Karlee, who's sprinkling green sugar on pressed Christmas trees; and to Kristen, who was declared by Brenda to be the best roller of cookie dough for a family favorite, confetti cookies.
"Maybe use a little more flour," offers Brenda, and Kristen dusts flour, plops down another handful of dough and begins to roll it out.
The kitchen is a whirlwind of sugar, butter, eggs, flour and rich smells. The baking starts early and goes on for hours, lasting until late in the evening. As the baking goes, so does the constant washing of mixing bowls and utensils. Everybody takes a turn at all the jobs.
The baking marathon takes some planning and shopping for supplies, including an estimated 15 pounds of butter, 30 to 40 pounds of flour and dozens of eggs, plus the flavorings: chocolate, caramel, maple, cherries, candied fruit and nuts.
That's where Brenda's husband, Roy, and their son Greg come in handy. They're good at chopping the nuts and fruit.
"Everybody gets involved," says Brenda, adding that she, Pam and Debbie watch for sales and stock up on supplies well in advance.
In the end, more than 30 kinds of cookies cover the dining room table.
"We make our favorites every year and then add some new recipes," says Brenda.
One of Pam's favorites, chocolate caramel layered bars, was a recipe from a high school friend. The recipes have been compiled into the Mattix family cookbook.
"We would be lost without this," says Brenda, adding with a laugh that when they evacuate during bad weather, the cookbook is one of the items they take to a safer spot.
Along with good smells and great tasting cookies are funny stories, one memory triggering another.
"Here's one," calls out Debbie, holding up a metal spatula with a crooked handle.
"This almost got baked on a pan of cookies until we grabbed it," says Debbie.
"Oh! Remember when Sam got Santa's cookies?" asks Pam and laughter fills the room.
Sam, a black Lab, helped himself one evening to an entire plate of cookies intended for Santa.
The mishaps create memories that make the annual cookie baking special for the Sibleys. And they all remember their favorite cookie - Brenda's is maple frosted bars; Roy likes brandied Christmas wreaths; Kristen, Karlee and Debbie like the confetti cookies; Kelsey prefers the buttered rum shortbread cookie; and Pam chooses star cookies. Greg smiles, pats his stomach and says he just likes all of them.
Mildred recalls a favorite from when her mother baked cookies.
"She made raisin-filled cookies and we enjoyed those more than anything," says Mildred, taking a fruited cookie - her favorite, she announces.
"Oh, the one you're eating is always your favorite," teases Brenda and laughter surrounds them as Kristen slips an arm around her great-grandmother, steadying her through the busy kitchen.
So what happens to the hundreds of cookies?
"We don't eat very many of them. They go as gifts from the heart," says Brenda.
For the Sibleys, baking day has always been a special time. The young children were propped in the kitchen as babies and the cookie baking is a part of their entire lives, says Kristen.
Pam glances at the busy crowded kitchen. "To us Christmas means the family baking day," she said. "If I didn't have anything else for Christmas, I would have this."