Craving a Cookie

For Lily Miller’s (12) family, Christmas doesn’t start until they’ve made a batch of bratzeli cookies – crunchy, buttery Swiss holiday cookies that are pressed till paper-thin. Using a secret recipe that’s been passed down in their family for generations, every single person in Miller’s family of seven has a role in the bratzeli-making process.

“My mom makes it and then me and my siblings will help either zest lemons or something else,” Miller said. “Some of my younger siblings, if they aren’t helping, they’ll be the taste-testers. The whole family gets involved somewhere or another and we’ll start eating them as soon as they come off the press cause they’re still warm.”

Making bratzeli is a serious business in the Miller family. Importing a bratzeli press directly from Switzerland, Miller’s family makes dozens upon dozens of the cookie every year.

“It’s one of all of our favorite cookies,” she said. “We end up making so many cookies. It’s really funny. It’s one of our favorites to pass out to friends as gifts. If we just make it for our family, we’ll probably do around 60. But if we pass it out, it can go up to 200.”

According to Miller, her family has made bratzeli every single Christmas without fail.

“Normally we’ll make some the same day that we decorate the Christmas tree and put lights up on the house and we’ll be snacking on them as we decorate the tree and stuff,” Miller said “It’s really fun.”

With fond memories of making bratzeli every year, Miller said she plans on continuing their annual cookie-making tradition for many years to come.

 “I love after we’ve finished mixing the batter and are putting the first cookies on the press because the kitchen starts to smell sweet and lemony and when we take it off the press and see the first cookie of the year,” she said. “We’ll always split that cookie up between all of us and it’s just really special. It’s something I look forward to every year.”

A Star in the Making

In awe, Maxine Santiago (12) gazed up at the dazzling parol — a traditional star-shaped ornamental lantern symbolic of the star of Bethlehem — sitting atop the ginormous, hand-built Christmas tree that stood taller than Santiago’s two-story house, December 2020 in Sorsogon City, Philippines. Using bamboo, colorful plastic bottles, hay, and any materials they could get their hands on, Santiago and her neighbors crafted the parol and tree they were submitting to her town, Barangay Caditaan’s, Christmas tree competition. 

“For a month, all of the people of

the neighborhood helped collect the materials, building the tree and the parol,” she said. “[Making parols] is a way of bonding with friends and family when you’re just looking for something that you can use. We use anything to make [parols], but I have two favorite ways of making it: one is using recycled materials and the other is using indigenous materials. It shows how resourceful Filipinos are and how creative they are, even if they’re just using leaves, bamboo or water bottles.”

This year will mark the first time Santiago celebrates Christmas in the United States, as she moved from the Philippines to San Diego in June. Although she’s no longer in her hometown, Santiago has carried on the annual tradition of making a parol with the help of her cousin and aunt.

“This year, I’m using chicken wire, coat hangers, plastic, and leftover Christmas lights [to make the parol],” Santiago said. “My cousin and my aunt made the frame of the star and then I will just be the one who will design it. [My cousin] said that he was excited to help me because it had been a long time since he made [a parol].”

For Santiago, making parols is a way for her to celebrate her Christian religion and also spend quality time with her loved ones.

“Filipinos generally start celebrating Christmas from September up till January,” she said. “[Christmas] is a big part of Filipino culture [as] the majority of Filipinos are Catholics or Christians and we don’t really have that many holidays or anything to celebrate. [Making parols] is kind of a tradition for all Filipinos, even if you’re not religious or if you’re not Christian, because it’s a way of bonding every Christmas.”

Pie, Pie, Pie

Every few years, Kiara Schray’s (12) extended family gathers to celebrate the holiday season, each family equipped with the same food: pie.

A bountiful diversity of homemade pies line the kitchen counters — rhubarb, apple, pumpkin, chocolate cream, blueberry, and anything one could think of. Although Schray herself doesn’t actually enjoy eating pies (except for apple crisp), she loves how it’s become a symbol of her family, each person taking their own spin on classic recipes.

“My dad grew up in a big family [of] nine kids,” Schray said. “Growing up, they never really had cake. It was always pie and it’s something that continued into our family reunions. [Pie] is just something we can all connect over and there are so many different pies [so] everyone can pick what kind they want.”

Another constant at these family gatherings is Shray rolls, 

With such a large family, Schray said that it’s difficult to get everyone together for the holidays, especially since many of them live on the East Coast. However, according to Schray, that’s what makes these rare family reunions even more precious.

“It’s not very often that everyone can get together, especially as we’re all getting older,” she said. “[These reunions are] kind of like these treasured memories that aren’t really gonna happen anymore.”