Every holiday season we ask a few friends to join us here at The Kitchn for a series of guest posts. The topics range from favorite holiday recipes to family memories and traditions. Today's guest: Terry Boyd. Terry is a longtime reader and community member of The Kitchn, and he writes his own blog, Blue Kitchen. I always learn something when I visit there!

Fresh rosemary adds a subtle, mysterious something extra to Hazelnut Rosemary Jam Cookies. And unlike so many holiday treats, they're not overly sweet. So they're perfect with a cup of tea — and when holiday guests drop by. More

Every holiday season we ask a few friends to join us here at The Kitchn for a series of guest posts. The topics range from favorite holiday recipes to family memories and traditions. Today's guest: Domenica Marchetti. Domenica is a widely-published food writer and columnist, and she has published some wonderful books on Italian cooking, including this year's favorite, The Glorious Pasta of Italy. Welcome Domenica!

Fried dough.

That is what our house smelled like on Christmas morning when I was growing up. Even as my sister, Maria, and I attacked the presents piled under the tree, our mother dashed back and forth from the living room to the kitchen, where she fried batches of calcionelli.

These golden-brown crescent-shaped pillows of sweet dough, filled with ground nuts and honey, are a specialty of my Italian mom's native region of Abruzzo. I imagine that as she stood there at the stove at our house in New Jersey, the aroma of honey and orange zest and fried dough brought her right back to her own childhood Christmases in the hilltop city of Chieti.

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Q: I'm looking for a recipe or a tip on how to make homemade pirouette cookies similar to Pepperidge Farm's version.

I've found several recipes for the thin rolled wafers, but I don't know how I'd go about getting the chocolate cream and nuts in the middle. Any ideas?

Sent by Lily More

Q: Where did the tradition of baking a zillion cookies at the holidays start?

I know it happens every year, and it seems to have spread far and wide, but I would love to know where it started, and why? What was its purpose or intent? Just to share, or...?

Sent by Aimee More

It's the holiday season and while my household celebrates Christmas, we're also just as likely to attend holiday events that don't necessarily match its red and green theme. (Hanukkah, Solstice, Buddha's Enlightenment, etc.) I love to bring a plateful of cookies as a gift or put luck offering, so this year I gave my usual Christmas cookie recipe some new, more ecumenical party clothes. Read on for the transformation! More

I won't lie: these are some fussy little cookies. They involve a great deal of rolling and filling and pressing and coating. And also waiting until you can finally (finally!) take your first buttery, peppermint-filled bite. But oh my, what a bite that is. Which is why my brother and I begged for them every Christmas, and why my mother required very little persuasion before pulling out the baking sheets. More

Are you up to your elbows in icing and ganache? Got silver dragees in your ears? We love all the sugar and frosting, but we also love a simple, sophisticated cookie with deep, warm holiday spices. These recipes are full of ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon (bonus: they're easy to pack for travel!). More

We've been talking cookie baking quite a bit on The Kitchn this week. Let's face it: it's one of our favorite times of the year. We love scouring the internet searching for new recipes and testing them in our home kitchens. But when it comes down to it with holiday cookies, what's better than a classic? More

This is the time of year when it's nice to have an ultra-quick, ultra-easy cookie recipe on hand to offer last-minute guests. Here's my latest favorite: A shortbread that consists of hazelnuts, olive oil, and a touch of lemon — and very little else. You can mix these cookies up in less than 5 minutes, and they bake off in a flash. They taste delicious too: Sweet, nutty, savory from the oil, and salty on the finish. More

Have you ever attempted to make a gingerbread house? My family always holds a gingerbread house decorating competition around the holidays, but these oversized gingerbread creations put our icing-spackled sheds to shame. These are gingerbread houses so big you can actually walk inside — or, in some of them, hoist the sails! More