Summary: The story of this northeast Ohio/western Pennsylvania wedding tradition, its beginnings and a description of the ins and outs of cookie-baking, table set-up, types of cookies, and etiquette, and some of the uses of cookie tables beyond weddings.

Mike, a work colleague from Pittsburgh, and I were at a wedding of a mutual colleague taking place in Poland, Ohio when we fell to discussing where the cookie table tradition arose. Residents of both the Youngstown and Pittsburgh regions lay claim to the tradition as their own. We had already partaken of the ample cookie table running along one of the walls of the reception hall. Fueled by those cookies, and perhaps a few adult beverages, we decided to settle the matter with a good old-fashioned arm-wrestling match. And in this instance at least, Youngstown won the claim to the tradition.

Those memories came back when I received this book, written by school classmate Alice Crosetto, on cookie tables. Crosetto doesn’t settle this running dispute. It turns out that after extensive research she found accounts from eastern and southern European families throughout this region once known for its steelmaking, the Steel Valleys of Youngstown and Pittsburgh, going back at least to the 1920’s, of cookie tables at weddings. The common ethnic makeup of this larger region accounts for its common presence throughout, likely brought from Europe.

While Crosetto didn’t settle this question for me, she offers so much more about this wonderful tradition. Whether you are from Youngstown or Pittsburgh, you will find out so much about this tradition unknown to most other parts of the country unless someone from Youngstown or Pittsburgh has enlightened them. Among other things, I learned:

The history of the cookie

There are relatives of the cookie table elsewhere including the sweets table and the Venetian table.

Cookie tables are family affairs and when an engagement is announced, all the relatives and family friends start baking.

We’re talking hundreds of dozens of cookies, cookies into the thousands. “We made too much” is a boast of pride.

Pizza boxes are great for transporting cookies (boxes that have never been used, that is).

Who arranges all those cookies? (In many cases, the caterers, for health reasons, do it, and in the Steel Valley, they are prepared for the job).

What’s the etiquette of cookie tables? There are differences about whether to serve before or after but the take-away bag or box is a non-negotiable. You must send wedding guests home with cookies!

There are bakeries, and Crosetto mentions a number, that also provide cookies, but for some families, it is a point of honor to provide them home-baked.

There is a growing business on Etsy and other sites selling cookie table decorations including Youngstown- or Pittsburgh-specific table coverings and plates and plaques celebrating the respective region’s tradition.

There are also a number of Facebook groups from these regions sharing recipes and other cookie table wisdom.

There are mouthwatering lists of cookies that appear on tables and a lavish center section of color photographs.

Finally, cookie tables aren’t just for weddings anymore–office parties, graduations, baby and wedding showers, retirements, and more are all celebrated with cookies. And cookie tables are a central feature of Steel Valley fundraisers, most notably the annual Cookie Table and Cocktails event for the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, their signature fundraising event.

This is just a “cookie sampler” of the delights to be found in this book. It is a labor both of meticulous research and love from Alice Crosetto, an educator and librarian and cookie baker. This is a book both for those who love cookie tables and those who have never heard of them. If the latter’s the case, I predict you will want to find a reason to get a group of family or friends together to bake cookies for a celebration once you’ve read the book.

[You can find this book easily through your local bookseller or through one of the online sites where books are sold. As a reviewer, I do not direct people to a particular bookseller.]

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. ( )