We all know what time it is. We’re in full holiday season now!
The next three weeks of post-Thanksgiving/pre-Christmas is my favorite time of the year! Anticipating breaks, little last hoorah’s before leaving to see family, little stressors, holiday foods, mini holiday treats (I’m looking at you, peppermint/chocolate combos).
One of my favorite FAVORITE traditions my family and I do is make ma’amoul. We only make them in this little window to send to loved ones and save just enough for Christmas Day. They take quite a bit of time and a lot of love, and butter.
As a kid, we’d only make them at Siti and Gido’s house. She’d prep all the dough before we arrived, line all her molds, and get out the “siti” bowls.
*A Siti Bowl - A bowl from her set of kitchenware that was given to her as a wedding gift, a nesting set of wood composite bowls. They’re ancient. They’re only used for Lebanese dishes. Also, the bottoms of the bowl smell like her kitchen, I don’t know how to explain it. I’m not a materialistic person, but this may be the most sentimental thing I own.*
One siti bowl was used for the dough, one for the filling. Typically there’d be multiple ma’amoul weekends all through December so that all the grandkids and cousins had a turn at making them. We’d spend hours forming every cookie, patiently waiting for them to cool to douse them in powdered sugar. Then having the luxury of sneaking one (or four) before packaging them all away until Christmas.
I remember always trying to sneak a frozen one in between now and Christmas at my grandparent’s house, praying my Gido wouldn’t catch me in the freezer while he roamed the house. Making sure the Tupperware was in the exact spot I had found it, they’d never know! And as far as I know, they didn’t.
While my family only makes them during the holidays, you can eat ma’amoul year-round. I can’t lie though, it feels a tad bit sacrilegious. Like, I could never imagine eating ma’amoul mid-July, that’s ridiculous!
My family has one filling recipe and refuses to try anything else. It’s delicious, don’t fix what isn’t broken, amirite ladies?
Although, one year for my sister’s birthday, I sent her a spoof batch of ma’amoul as a surprise. While I can’t remember all the ones I made, I did one with cacao nibs, almonds, sugar, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon which apparently were very good! We joke about wanting to do a ma’amoul roulette with obscure fillings and make some kind of trivia game about it. Like Lebanese Bean Boozled!
Growing up with both of my parents being teachers, teacher gifts around the holidays were expected. While we made lots of other treats to give away, the way I’d find out if I really liked a teacher or not was by asking the question, “Did I like them enough to give them ma’amoul?”
That sounds so silly, but it’s true!
In the last two to three years, I’ve gotten used to making them on my own before coming home to make them with my family.
I now give them to my professors and my friends!
That last part isn’t completely true.
As of right now, it’s just been my roommates (who are my wonderful, sweet, amazing friends that I get the privilege to live with), but we may have eaten almost all the ma’amoul at this point…
If you ever want to make a professor’s day, bring them a cookie, holy cow. I think elementary and secondary teachers are used to receiving “thank you” gifts from their students or their parents. But give a college professor a gift? They’ll melt. One professor teared up. One was flabbergasted. One sent me a very sweet message after, saying they reminded her of her childhood when she lived in Beirut for a time. That one made my night.
As I get older, I realize more and more what a gift it is to have these little traditions I overlooked growing up. I love getting to share more of my family and learning more about myself when the holidays come around. I think about the future holidays, in hopes to share even more ma’amoul-making and giving away!
With Love,
Cara
Love this so much Cara! 💕 One of my favorite things to do for Christmas too. Siti always had the butter softened and ready.
Is love to know when y'all are making them. I could use a little help. I have my own spoons!