Judy Clark of Emlenton has been baking Christmas cookies for 43 years. She's passing the knowledge on to her granddaughters, from left, Alona Clark, 7, and McLaren Paz, 5.

EMLENTON — For an amazing 43 years, Judy Clark has been making Christmas cookies from cherished family recipes.

“I baked for years with my grandmother, but when I had my own family, we all joined together.

“Grandma Betty would have been in her 60s, my boys, Obadiah and Silas, would have been elementary/middle-school age, and my daughter, Rachel, began helping when she was old enough to hold a spoon,” said Clark.

The Clarks make dozens of cookies for their holiday gatherings, including raisin-filled, pecan tassies, molasses cookies, magic bars, oatmeal cookies, Reese's cups, peanut butter cookies, date cookies and lemon bars.

Her granddaughter Tychina's favorite cookies are always the iced sugar cookies, but Clark admits that she fooled her granddaughter for years.

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