I grew up in Joanna, Pa. in the 50’s. The winters seemed colder and snowier then. In the fall, walnuts would be gathered from the yard and placed on newspapers up in the attic to dry. When they were ready, dad would break them up and us kids would pick out the meat of the nuts. These nuts would be used for cookies and other holiday treats. Cookie baking was always fun. My mom and older sister would roll out the dough and cut out the shapes. My younger sister and I would decorate them with nuts, cherries and colored sugar. My mom made several kinds of cookies. They were stored in large metal containers and put in the cool attic. When visitors come over the holidays, one of us would take a large bowl to the attic and put a sampling of each cookie in the bowl. My mom is gone now, since 2003. I inherited her baking utensils, including her rolling pin, metal cut-out forms, and a plastic table cloth to roll the dough out on. As I’m doing this family tradition of making cut out cookies, I can’t help but feel my mother’s presence in the kitchen with me. Memories of cookie baking from my childhood days will always stay with me, tucked safely away in my heart forever.