Traditions are built on tried-and-true, old-fashioned family recipes. Year after year, the same items are offered at the holidays. It just wouldn’t be the same without them. In researching old-fashioned candies, I came across recipes that offer rich stories, and tracing heirloom recipes led to a few tall tales.

Family recipes can be a bit convoluted in origin. Sometimes no one knows which great aunt began making which traditional item. But that doesn’t stop the storytellers! With great confidence, we pass down recipes. “Oh,” we say, “that recipe came from the old country. My mother’s mother’s mother made it every Christmas.”