Monday, Dec 4, 2023
“Which is Santa’s Favorite?”
One of the most endearing Christmas traditions involves leaving cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Do you leave cookies for Santa? If so, what kind of cookies do you leave?
Leaving cookies (and milk) for Santa in America became popular during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Many American parents were eager to teach their children about the importance of gratitude and helping others. Parents began encouraging their children to put gifts for Santa in their stockings, hanging by the chimney since that was Santa’s preferred method of visiting children. After Santa came down the chimney bringing the children’s gifts, he would take the gifts left by the children in their stockings and distribute them to families in need.
Though the stocking tradition reversed its’ course, the cookie tradition hasn’t changed much. Leaving cookies, milk, and an occasional carrot for the reindeer is helpful for Santa to maintain his strength and energy through the long night of distributing gifts throughout the world. Before the 1930s, it’s likely that Santa’s preferred cookie was a simple butter and sugar cookie. However, since the chef and owner of the Toll House Inn created the first chocolate chip cookie in the mid-1930s (by accident), it is rumored that Santa almost always leans a bit toward the chocolate chip variety.
I rebelled against this belief. From a very young age, I was diagnosed with chocolate allergies, prompting me to believe that the media was incorrect about Santa’s favorite. I was convinced that oatmeal raisin was Santa’s favorite, mostly because that’s my favorite, but also because of the multitude of health benefits of oatmeal, raisins, and other naturally occurring ingredients such as sugar, milk, and vanilla.
This Christmas Eve, I plan to prove my point. Pippa (my Yorkie) and I will put out a plate of oatmeal cookies and a plate of chocolate chip cookies, side by side. (We’ll skip the milk because Tim Allen says that Santa is lactose intolerant and exchange it for what we have on hand, (namely, Mountain Dew).) If any cookies remain on Christmas morning, I’ll consider sharing them with Pippa, unless the remaining cookies are chocolate chip (Pippa can’t eat chocolate, either.) In that case, I’ll have proven my point: Santa likes oatmeal raisin the best (no nuts).
On this National Cookie Day, it’s probably safe that you can purchase the preferred cookie of your choosing as the grocery aisle has no shortage in selection. What a great challenge: Which cookie do I want? Take a minute, though, today or this week in your grocery shopping, and give thanks for the abundance of choices. Much of the world will miss a meal or two today and several may have little choice in their broth or vegetable for their sole consumption. Unlike us, most in the world will be limited in nutritious options, much less indulgent sweets.
Are cookies okay for Christmas? Absolutely! Especially if the sweetness reminds me to share with others, both my cookies and my prayers. Yes, Santa will love it… and so will The LORD.
“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, NET)