For the uninitiated, in regards to the Cookie Table: (from
Chris Fennimore, of WQED)
The Cookie Connection
"The cookie table is a local wedding tradition worth baking for. Flour, sugar and butter have been disappearing from grocery shelves at an alarming rate over the past few weeks. Like milk and toilet paper on the eve of a winter storm, vanilla extract and chocolate morsels have to be restocked regularly. Are people preparing for some sort of calamity? No, they're just stockpiling cookies for the season of weddings, graduation parties, anniversaries and other family gatherings that seem to hit a peak in June.
I never met a food tradition I didn't like, and the Pittsburgh cookie table is one that came as a welcome surprise to this transplant from Brooklyn, N.Y. The quantity and quality of the cookie assortments at these functions are a source of endless discussion and great family pride. I recently read about one event where there were
800 dozen cookies! You may have heard of even more extravagant displays.
No one seems to know where or how this tasty tradition began, but here are two recipes from my mother's repertoire to add to the table." (He followed with a recipe for pizelles and a tartlet.)
Bringing cookies to a wedding is showing your affection to the bride and groom. I've been to showers where a list was sent around to see if you could make cookies, what type, how many, etc. In the Western PA area, every Cookie Table
must have pizelles, mini ladylocks, pecan tassies, thumbprints, mini cheesecakes, those (insert nationality here) Wedding Cakes, and some "kid cookies" (peanut butter, chocolate chips, etc). Ohio ones have to include Buckeyes, too. When you book your caterer, they usually tell you whether or not they will "tray the cookies" - put them on display in a pleasing manner. Truly great Cookie Tables not only have the one main table, but a plate on each table.