We answer your calls with Vaughn Vreeland (of New York Times Cookie Week fame) to help you bake the best cookies of the season; historian Pen Vogler breaks down classic Christmas dishes featured in Charles Dickens’ stories, from turkey to plum pudding; author Kat Lieu shares her recipe for Old-Fashioned Cantonese Shortbread; and reporter Mackenzie Martin shares the true story of a Wisconsin holiday tradition, the wildcat sandwich.

Get Kat Lieu's recipe for Old-Fashioned Cantonese Shortbread.

Questions in this Episode:

"I love baking cookies for everyone during the holidays. Is there an ideal cookie base that I can use for various variations?"

"At the end of most cookie recipes, it'll say to put a rounded tablespoon on the cookie tray two inches apart. You have this idea that they'll flatten out into cookies, but mine still come out of the oven like balls. What am I doing wrong?"

"I can't recreate my mother's recipe for mincemeat cookies. Help!"

"I love a soft chewy cookie, but sometimes, within ten minutes of taking my cookies out of the oven, they turn into bricks. How can I ensure my cookies will stay soft and not turn into bricks?"