As a traditionalist who misses so very much the Christmas atmosphere of so many years ago, I can't help but reflect on the holiday season of the 1930's and compare it to the holidays that we experience now. When I talk about those lost traditions I sometimes find that what I am searching for is the contentment that came from an era when there was no struggle for happiness: it was just there. When it didn't really matter that there wasn't enough money to buy new Christmas decorations, and you made due with last year's coloured paper-chains. When gifts exchanged might be nothing more than one of your own cherished possessions lovingly given up as your way of saying, "I care enough to give you what is precious to me."
Christmas with Mary Cook is a collection of Mary's most requested yuletide stories and recipes from her life as a girl growing up on a farm during the great depression.
