The Cookie Table

(Yes, you read that correctly!)

 
"When we first moved here and a bride-to-be mentioned The Cookie Table, I was puzzled. “What do you need cookies for?” I asked. “At a wedding, you eat cake.”

Nobody knows the exact origin of the tradition, which has been exported to other parts of Pennsylvania, other states, too. It may be Italian or Slovak or Polish or Croatian or Greek. The Scandinavians may get involved, and the Indians, too. The Germans do cookies, and so do the Irish. If we’ve left anybody out (like the English), add them to the cookie equation. There may be no greater tribute to cross-cultural friends and marriages than The Cookie Table. It’s what makes America great; a medley of cultures taking the best from each. The best, in this case, being favorite family cookie recipes.

– Suzanne Martinson from “The Cookie Table: A Pittsburgh Tradition”

Every bride-to-be has her checklist of essentials for the big day. The perfect venue, gown, photographer, hairstyle, centerpieces, favors, menu, and gifts for the wedding party are just a few items high on the list of any bride’s priorities, whether she’s sharing her special day with only the nearest and dearest family, or celebrating her nuptials with what can feel like the whole world. Any bride hailing from the Steel City, however, knows that no wedding is complete without a cookie table.

To many of you, this may seem like a no brainer, while those not native to Pittsburgh may be scratching their heads thinking, “Cookie table? Why would you have cookies with all that wedding cake?” The cookie table is a tradition, in some form or another, spanning throughout parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and West Virginia stemming from European immigrants, of primarily Catholic descent. The cookie table has a presence in industrial locations that were inhabited in part by ethnic groups consisting of Italians, and Greeks among other Eastern European immigrants.

Because Pittsburgh is the melting pot that it is, the cookie table has had a sturdy foothold in local culture for generations upon generations, traditionally prepared by the bride-to-be’s female relatives and friends, working together to lovingly bake hundreds of cookies of various styles such as pizzelles, baklava, lady locks, nut cups, buckeyes, thumbprints, biscotti, Italian anise drops, and cherry cheesecake cups.

No one has successfully pinpointed when or where the cookie table originated, though one interesting theory implies that the cookie table grew in popularity in the states during the Great Depression as a way to combat the financial hardship of purchasing a wedding cake, because the burden was distributed among close family.

No matter where it began, this is one Pittsburgh tradition that will make its way to Naples and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we do!

Want to participate in this tradition? Feel free to bring a dozen of your favorite cookies and we'll put them on the table! Seriously, whose going to say we have too many cookies and it will be fun to see the favorites of our guests!
 

An interesting side story, Megan told Lane about the cookie table and he proposed the very next day. Coincidence?!