I know you must be thinking … how is it possible that another year has almost come and gone? It’s really not that difficult to fathom when you examine the hustle and bustle of your daily routine — sending the kids off to daycare or school, extra-curricular activities, play dates and nighttime regimens. Not to mention your eight-hour work day and much needed adult time to reconnect with your spouse.
In all likelihood, you are beginning to make your holiday plans. At whose house will you sip a little eggnog and cook the Christmas goose? Will you fly down to see the grandparents in sunny Florida? Or will you cram the kids, toys and food into the mini-van to bake cookies and trim the tree with your favorite aunt and uncle? Or perhaps your brother and sister live right down the street and your children can light the Menorah and eat potato latkes with their cousins.
Regardless of one’s nationality or ethnic origin, the connection between food, family and tradition is unmistakable. Food is so much more than the culinary experience of preparing and eating it. Food is about families, about the conversations that take place around the table and, most certainly, the traditions binding one generation to the next. These traditions provide parents and children something constant to depend on. In this hassled, harried, over-scheduled world we live in, we gather comfort from the familiar. Much like a bowl of warm chicken soup on a cold, blustery day.
I strongly urge you to take stock. Are you placing enough emphasis on these traditions? Do you honor and pay tribute to the memories of those who paved the way before you? Or do you struggle with preserving the traditions that were once meaningful in your life? What a shame it would be if the passage of time and the loss of loved ones who created these rituals, required you to start anew. What a shame indeed, when in all probability there is so much richness in your heritage.
I became painfully aware of this notion six years ago when my mother and I spent six poignant weeks together as she suffered from brain cancer. Just before she died, she gave me two tattered notebooks filled with handwritten, food-splattered family recipes. My parents and grandmothers lived in Vienna before immigrating to the U.S. in 1939. They, along with these special cookbooks, survived the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust. My mother’s memoir strongly urged us to tell their story — “for remembering is part of survival.” Since my mother’s death, I have made a deliberate effort to make her specialty dishes for my children and grandchildren. Lovingly prepared food is the surest connection for me to the past and the link to the future.
The upcoming holidays are the perfect occasion for you to reconnect with your own family traditions, regale your children with heart warming tales about their relatives and honor your heritage. Spend time with your loved ones in the kitchen and around the table. I hope you enjoy the celebrations with your family — sweet smells, savory tastes, pungent conversations and above all, delicious memories!
Ronnie Weston is a freelance writer, author of the food blog “Around the Table” (www.aroundthetable.typepad.com) and a proud mother of five children (and three grandchildren, with three more on the way!). She lives in Harpswell and Florida with her husband, Evan, and is always searching for new ways to preserve family traditions.