One of the ways Shea and her family welcome the holiday season is by welcoming her mom, affectionately known as TamTam, into the kitchen. Growing up, the time-honored tradition of baking as a family was a special one for Shea. Here’s an excerpt from her book, The Art of Home.

“When I was growing up, Sundays after church were for baking. My mom would pull out a binder of recipes taken from Southern Living that were scribbled on note cards and stuck in sheet protectors caked with flour and little droplets of butter. I’d sit on the counter and sneak brown sugar and wait for my turn to use the mixer,” Shea notes. “I now share this same ritual with my daughters, plopping them up on the island, eating too much cookie dough, and rotating whose turn it is to measure and pour. By the time we pull our Sunday treat out of the oven, we’re usually so full from snacking that we just pick at the dessert.”

Watch the webisode below for more McGee holiday traditions and get the recipe for Slice & Bake Thumbprint Cookies to start a baking tradition all your own.