Born in 1950, Maria Birch recalls, “our Christmas cookie baking started the Friday after Thanksgiving . . . “ Birch grew up on a farm in central Wisconsin with her parents, her mom’s parents, her grandma's mother, cousins, uncles, aunts and hired farm hands. “When I was a child Grandma was the head cook and baker. . . our Christmas cookie baking was done next door at her house.” Common for that time, her grandmother’s house, had no central heating and an unheated upstairs bedroom which worked perfect for storing fresh baked molasses, gingerbread men, sugar, butter, spritzes, sour cream, cut-out, and peanut butter cookies.
