Scents of the Season by Laura Strickland

Most of us have our favorite Christmas and holiday memories. I don’t know about you, but as soon as I see the first holiday commercial of the season on TV or catch the notes of a familiar Christmas song, the images and recollections begin to roll. The breathless excitement I felt as a small girl, when I believed completely in the magic of the season comes welling up again. I remember the fascination of eyeing a wrapped gift, and wondering what was inside. The thrill of decorating the tree, of believing completely that Santa would come. And the scent of Christmas cookies baking.

They say the sense of smell can transport you back in time faster than anything else. I believe it’s true. A hint of cinnamon. Warm vanilla and the heavenly smell of sprinkled sugar. Christmas cookies were a big deal at our house. While she was growing up, my mom didn’t have many wonderful Christmases, so she always made sure her three girls did. Her mom, whom she lost early, was a wonderful British-style baker and at one time ran the tea house at Bowring Park in St. John’s, Newfoundland. My mom continued the baking tradition, and taught me how to make many of the cookies I still bake today.

We started early in December and made ten or more varieties. Cut outs, press cookies, thumb prints, and also many kinds of squares such as cherry chews, pineapple bars, and those old Newfoundland favorites, date crumbles. My mom would clip recipes from the newspaper—her version of Googling them, I suppose—and try them out come Christmas time. I still have many of those clippings today, saved in an ancient binder.

To me, the smell of Christmas cookies baking represents plenty, for that was the only time of year when Mom truly splurged. It represents the delight of having a bottomless supply of goodies, my one true weakness. Best of all, it represents the sense of comfort that came of spending time with a woman who has long been gone from me.

When I had the opportunity last year to write a Christmas Cookie Series story for The Wild Rose Press, Snowdrop Cookie Wishes, I knew it would have to start out with the scents of the season. I guess that’s what truly means Christmas, to me. 

SNOWDROP COOKIE WISHES

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Snowdrop-Cookie-Wishes-Christmas-Cookies-ebook/dp/B09FYV37N2/ref=sr_1_2

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/snowdrop-cookie-wishes-laura-strickland/1140147182?ean=2940162321682

Multi award-winning author Laura Strickland delights in time traveling to the past and searching out settings for her books, be they Historical Romance, Steampunk or something in between. Married and the parent of one grown daughter, Laura has also been privileged to mother a number of very special rescue dogs, the latest being a little boy called Tinker, and is intensely interested in animal welfare. Her love of dogs, and her lifelong interest in Celtic history, magic and music, are all reflected in her writing. Laura's mantra is Lore, Legend, Love, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

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