The Coven of The Cookie

Summary

The undefined website details the author's family tradition of baking "mun" cookies during the holiday season, a recipe passed down through generations with secret ingredients and techniques that unite the family across distances and time.

Abstract

The Coven of the Cookie is a heartwarming narrative about the author's family tradition that comes alive each December. The article describes how the family gathers to bake a special kind of cookie, referred to as "mun," using a recipe that is too precious to be written down. Instead, the knowledge and technique of making these delicate cookies are passed orally from one generation to the next. The ingredients, which include flour, shortening, eggs, poppy seeds, sugar, salt, and citrus zest, are transformed into a delicacy that is eagerly consumed, leaving the family content and ready for the winter. Despite the challenges of 2020, the family adapted their tradition to the virtual realm, holding a Zoom meeting to continue the ritual, suggesting that the act of baking these cookies is a source of comfort and hope, even when times are tough. The author expresses gratitude for the family tradition and acknowledges the prompt from Blue Insights that inspired the piece.

Opinions

The author values family traditions and the joy they bring, especially during the holiday season.
The secret recipe and technique for "mun" cookies are considered an integral part of the family's heritage.
Baking these cookies is seen as a magical and transformative process, likened to casting a spell.
The tradition has a unifying effect, bringing together multiple generations, even across distances through virtual means.
The author believes that the continuation of such traditions, despite adversities, offers a sense of stability and optimism in the world.
There is an appreciation for the small pleasures in life, such as baking and enjoying cookies, which can have a profound impact on one's well-being and sense of connection to loved ones.

A holiday tradition

These dark days beg the comfort of food, innocent ingredients until mixed together and the spell is cast

Too precious to commit to paper, the secret of this rite is passed from kitchen to kitchen, each year, as the days wane

Flour, shortening, eggs and poppy seeds sugar, salt and zest of citrus This incantation repeated generation after generation

No mere cookie, a delicacy so thin and light, consumed with greed leaving everyone sated and sleepy, ready to hibernate until the spring whispers them awake

We have a family recipe for “mun” cookies which, of course, has some secret ingredients. But, it’s the technique that is so special. It cannot be explained, only demonstrated, and has made for a wonderful winter tradition.

Update Dec 19, 2020 — the coven just met on zoom ( me, my daughters, and granddaughters). I know my grandmother was watching and smiling and thinking all can’t be that bad in the world if there are cookies!

Thanks to Øivind H. Solheim for the present Blue Insights’ cultural prompt.

Thanks for reading :)

Another if you are interested :

Cultural Prompt — What does December mean to you?

The Coven of the Cookie

A holiday tradition

Traditional December Celebrations Around the World

Blue Insights Cultural Prompt — December 2020

A Walking Kind of Day

A poem