Hey everyone!!
So the other day I was thinking about how excited I was about Halloween (favorite. holiday. ever!!!! I mean how can you beat free candy all over the city and wearing fun costumes, not to mention the epic scary movie marathons??) and it got me thinking about one of my favorite childhood memories. When I was little, my parents would always decorate the house like crazy for Halloween and I loved helping them out with it (even though often times I'd do more damage than help haha). It was like a ritual - every second week in October we'd go out and get the supplies (you know the drill, spider webs galore and skelton figures) and start decorating. I always loved feeling close to my family that way.
Most of my families traditions revolve around decorating for the holidays (don't even get me started on what we do for Christmas haha) as well as the food that my mom cooks (she make the most amazing green chile stew and beans ever. But maybe I'm a little biased on that account haha). My mom is hispanic through and through and although she speaks even less Spanish than I do, she still carries these cooking traditions as part of her heritage because they're things that her mother taught her. My dad is mostly Italian with a bit of German mixed in there and he doesn't do much cooking so I don't experience as much from those two cultures, but for some reason I definitely have the talking with my hands thing down. haha. Anyway, now that I've finished rambling, I just thought this would be a good opprotunity for us to share some of our family traditions.
What's your favorite family tradition or what's the biggest tradition that stands out to you in your memories of when you were little? How do you think following these traditions has influenced you as a person? Why do you think that you enjoy these traditions so much? Do you have traditions that have been passed down from previous generations to those of your parents? How big of a part does your family's background play in the traditions that you partake in?
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Neither side of my family is very big on traditional holiday practices; however, Thanksgiving was always a big part of my childhood. We always had numerous family members stay over and cook for days and days. We cooked not only traditional Thanksgiving fare, but also rice and Thai papaya salad. It was definitely fusion cuisine, but it fit my family. And, of course, the day right after Thanksgiving was reserved for setting up the Christmas tree. I absolutely love Christmas! Weihnachtsmarkts (Christmas markets) were possibly my favorite part about Germany. I just love how everyone seems to be in a better mood around this time! The past couple of Christmases have been extremely different for my family though. We, unfortunately, have been separated for two or three of them, but I'm looking forward to this upcoming Christmas! My parents and I are planning on traveling to Thailand to visit our relatives there. I'm not sure what my Thai side does for Christmas seeing that they're Buddhist, but I know that they love sending Christmas cards! Although it's a nontraditional way to celebrate the holidays, I am extremely excited to spend time with my parents and relatives. I don't even think I'll mind being called foreigner for once!
My family does not really have a lot of concrete, scheduled traditions, mostly just times of togetherness that have a great atmosphere. When I was little, my sister and I could pretty much always count on my parents reading us a book at least once a day. Let's just say our copy of The Little Mermaid is pretty beat up! This litle "tradition" has influenced me as a person because even such a basic life skill was infused with family and love. Therefore I was taught to appreciate learning and being with my family. My favorite tradition is probably the one in which my mom, dad, sister and I all watch the movie the Polar Express before we go to bed on Christmas Eve. This tradition is very special to me because it has the perfect essence of familial happiness during such a great time of year. Most of my family's traditions do not have much to do with my family's background, and most of our traditions have been formed by simply finding something to do together that we all enjoy. I am a person whose favorite place is spending time with my family, and I think my family's little traditions have taught me to appreciate those times together.
I love my family around the holidays! We're a bunch of people who like to make stuff, so our traditions revolve around making food and crafty things. There are all the holidays like Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, New Year's, and Christmas where we make feasts that feed hoards of people for weeks; but then, there's also smaller things. Every two years, my mom, dad, sister and I used to go out into the backyard and pick all of our basil to make upwards of thirty batches of pesto. The house smells more than delicious for over a month. Then in the winter, my mom and dad used to make "Slap Yo Mama Toffee," a.k.a, the most delicious substance on the planet, and send boxes of it to the various Clarks and Zimmers spread across the country.
My entire life has always revolved around food and that's mostly because my mom and dad loved food. Some of the best recipes we have are traditional family recipes, but most everything is a first generation masterpiece.
We decorate and go tree hunting for Christmas and all that, but everything good, happens in the kitchen.
Let me just day first off that I love this blog post Amy ;).
Let’s see, the most memorable tradition for I think would be baking Syrian Cookies. I’m not really sure how this fits with me being Lebanese (not Syrian) but that’s what we call them. I know they have an Arabic name but I’m not sure what it is. This is a tradition from my Dad’s side, I’m half Lebanese because of his genes. Anyway, every Saturday after Thanksgiving we make Syrian Cookies for Christmas and we all have certain roles. My Dad makes the dough, I roll out the little circles, my brother fills them with the pecan mix, and my Mom soaks them in the sugar/orange blossom milk. These cookies are made out of dough, and then filled with a mixture of chopped pecans and the milk I told you about earlier. They are then folded over and sealed with a fork. Then they are put in the oven until golden brown; then cooled; then soaked in a mixture of sugar, milk, and orange blossom water that give them a sweet taste. For me this is the most prominent family tradition in my memory because I can expect it every year, and we always listen to Christmas music while we work. I also remember that I never liked eating them with nuts so my Dad always takes some of the dough and makes nut-less ones shaped like rings. Another tradition, this one on my Mom’s side of the family is that, until my Grandma moved and my Grandpa died, we would always go to my Grandparents house in El Paso, TX for the ‘Haverly Christmas’ (my Mom’s maiden name; this is after we would spend Christmas at our own house here where Matthew and I would wake up in the morning and wake up my parents and Santa’s gifts would be on our own separate sides of the tree for us to ooh and ahh over :)) and we would have lamb and mashed potatoes and cooked spinach (I never ate the spinach, but it was there) and my Mom would always bring in sugar cookies (which we decorated before we left) and Syrian cookies and there would always be pie and we’d all gather in their living room with any other relatives from my Mom’s side or friends of my Grandparents and then open gifts. It was awesome to say the least.
I think these traditions, among others, has helped shaped me as a person because it helped teach me the importance of family as well as kept me grounded because my family is so hardcore about staying in touch and holds to that sharing the holidays together is important. I love these traditions because a) I love tradition, and hate change (pretty much the same thing) b) I love my family; they are so incredibly awesome, you don’t even know how much I enjoy family reunions :), and c) doing something that I can connect to my childhood is something that I like to cherish, I think that life is about making connections with people and making memories and family traditions in the pinnacle of this.
Some traditions my parents got from their parents are a lot of foods. My Dad has a lot of foods that he makes, or knows how to make, because of his parents and same with my Mom although she’s Irish, German, and English. My Dad’s foods are the Syrain cookies, humus, kibbeh, and other Lebanese foods. My Mom has a fudge recipe and a cookie recipe (actually similar looked to the Syrian Cookies) that she has passed down to her as well as a Banana Cake recipe that is very prominent in our family. All my aunts make it (albeit all a little differently) and I’m pretty sure we have at lease two in our big freezer because that’s how often my Mom makes it.
I think all these traditional foods are because of my parents and grandparents heritage; my Mom’s foods are more based on her descent and my Dad’s from his.
You can probably tell from this that I like to talk about my family, and it may surprise you, but I actually refrained from putting a LOT more in here, but I love family and family tradition! Again, good post Amy!!!
Honestly, coming from such a small family, tradition was never really a part of my family life. When I was younger, Thanksgiving was always a holiday spent with my father's parents (even after he left the country) and I've spent every Christmas since I was born at my Grandmother's house in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Also when I was younger, much younger, my father would come to florida for christmas, and so would my aunt and my uncle and my three cousins. However, the years passed and two of my cousins passed away, my parents got divorced, my aunt and uncle got divorced, my fathers parents died, leaving basically my mother, my grandmother, and me to celebrate Christmas together in Florida. So tradition plays a relatively small role in my life haha. However, i do believe it should be important in a family. I think that tradition is part of the beauty of the holidays; carols and cookies and Christmas Eve, and more importantly, family togetherness is what makes the holidays so precious. And most of all, if you have that, that family time, those moments where you're surrounded by the people who love you most, don't take it for granted.
I would have to agree with your post about decorating for the holidays being a big tradition Amy. It's the same in my family. For every major holiday my family loves going all out. Yes, that includes holidays such as Easter as well. Although usually easter is geared more towards smaller children, with the whole egg hunt thing, that hasn't stopped my mom from decorating for it. Both my brother and I have somewhat grown out of the egg hunt phase, but we still enjoy helping her decorate the whole house.
One particular holiday that I enjoy is Christmas. It has been a recent tradition since we moved into our new house to buy a real tree. I LOVE the smell that fills our house because of it. Every year, we go as a family and we pick out the perfect tree. Another thing that we do around Christmas time is make bunuelos. This falls under a cultural tradition. Both my parents are Mexican, and bunuelos are something that is part of the culture. It something that has been part of the tradition even in their childhoods. For those of you who haven't heard of these before, bunuelos are made from dough that is rolled thin then fried and topped with cinnamon and sugar. They're delicious! They can be made a variety of ways with many toppings but this is the way my family makes them.
Another tradition that my family has is to have family dinner atleast once a week. This doesn't mean just eating together, but actually taking time to sit around the table and talk. It seems like something simple. but everyone is always so busy that it's often hard to accomplish. I think that traditions are important and they help keep the family together.
Great topic!
My family has tons of traditions. Like most others have mentioned, most of it takes part in the kitchen.
My favorite holiday (not just the holiday, but the joyous time of year) has to be Christmas. A couple of weeks before the holiday our family always gets together (despite our hectic schedules) and picks out the perfect Christmas tree. We used to go to one specific lot, but unfortunately it either closed down or relocated...we've had to a bit more searching in the last few years because of that. Just a couple days before Christmas we all gather in the kitchen to make oodles of baked goods. Brownies, peppermint bark, sugar cookies, pecan bars, lemon bars, pumpkin spice bread...whatever we can think of, really! We take the whole day to do this and then arrange a variety of the treats on seperate plates and deliver them to our neighbors. They do the same, and it's always nice (well, sometimes not so nice...haha) that we have plates full of yummy things to eat in our kitchen.
Then on Christmas Eve we always eat posole and croissant sandwiches. For some reason the sandwiches are something we never take lightly. We get fancy mustards, lettuce, tomato, meats, cheeses...anything and everything you could want on a sandwich. Then we all gather and eat together, then usually watch a movie. The movie isn't specific, just whatever we want. We also drive around in our mini van, listen to Christmas music stations, and look at all the pretty lights on the houses. We even take the same route, usually, and look at the same areas! Then we open one present on Christmas Eve, and the rest in the morning, while drinking egg nog and hot chocolate.
Whew, all of that for one holiday! I even almost forgot the most important part. For Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, we make a huge feast--always the same. It takes the entire day to cook and about...30 minutes to eat, but it is always so worth the tons of leftovers.
These are only a small, small fraction of the traditions my family has. So, as you can see, they are very important in my family. However, they have evolved somewhat over the course of the last few years. My dad was always the one who made the whole meal (I always helped make the rolls and pies), but I have since insisted on doing the entire thing myself. I let my brothers do a couple of parts of it, and my mom some, but it's always a really theraputic time for me. It makes me feel very connected to my father when I use all of the little tricks that he learned from his mother and passed down to me. I can only wish that I had a chance to learn more, but I'm glad that I was so involved when I was younger, that I even know what I do know now.
Family traditions always give me something to look forward to. They're something that you know are going to happen every year, and you know when. Perhaps because of the uncertainty of the last few years, we have begun to cling to them even more. Holidays are times that we know our whole (but very, very small) family can be together and enjoy each other's company.
Whew...have I ranted enough for ya? Haha. As you can tell, I love family traditions, and I fully plan on passing mine down to my children in the future.
My family isn't really too big on traditional holiday stuff. I know people would get upset because we'd eat for Thanksgiving at one persons house and not anothers... way too much drama. So what we've started the past few years is my mom, dad, and I eat an early lunch in Abq, and then we'd go watch a movie.And since my mom is a labor and delivery nurse she would usually end up working the nights of holidays.. (except new years since that's her and my dad's anniversary). I don't think we're necissarily missing out on anything. I mean the best part of the holidays is the food right?? And there's always left overs. My parents and I feel its better to just avoid the drama that is known to happen during the holidays. It's not that we don't love our family... its just they can be extremely ridiculous about the silliest things.
One tradition my mother and I have always had though is putting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and blasting Christmas Carols for the whole month. Other then that we're not very traditional
Hmm. My family doesn't really have set traditions since I have so much of it on both sides. We normally have to alternate between my dad's side of the family and my mom's side of the family. Like Ale was saying, drama is a factor. However, my immediate family has one tradition that stands out to me.
Each year, my family and I go out to our ranch to choose a Christmas tree. This seems simple, right? I mean there are trees all over the place. My dad however, is picky with nothing except Christmas trees. This is typically an all day excursion, involving the search for the perfect tree. It gets frustrating sometimes when we find a fine tree but it is still not dubbed "good enough". However, at the end of the day, when we find that one tree that is just completely and utterly flawless, I always know the search was worth it. I know it doesn't sound like much, but the all day drive in my dad's truck is great bonding time for my family. We are all together, talking and laughing as we work together to reach our goal.
The one tradition that stands out the most is definitely one on Christmas. Christmas was always my whole family's favorite holiday from the cooking to the presents to the tree! The tradition was making these cookies from scratch that came from my great great grandmom, i think. And I think these memories stand out so much from all the others because it has never ever falter at all since my sisters and I have grown up like many traditions do. They are the best cookies too, just flour, sugar and 10 sticks of butter! haha We all really come together when making them and everything is very peaceful. Like this was the time we all got together and no one had to worry about anything, mom wouldn't be taking business calls we would all be in the kitchen just having fun.
Oh dear, I wish Christmas got here faster!!
This is a great topic! I'm really glad procratination paid off this time in commenting because I had the chance to read about everyone else's traditions :) (Meagan: both sets of my grandparents live in El Paso, I was actually born there. Has your family always lived there?).. Any way back to tradtions, I think these are the things in my family that I will remember forever!I hope I am able to carry them onto my own family someday. I think our most special traditions happen around Chritmas time :) It is a crazy time because my birthday is the day before Christmas, my sister's is a week before mine, and it just gets hectic. My parents have always made it special though. Especially in separting birthdays from Christmas. Every year the rule in our house is that we cannot start listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. In the past we have often gone out of town for Thanksgiving, so when we would get home, within that week we would begin the extensive decorating for Christmas. My mom is a Christmas fanatic. She made her own Christmas clock that is a clock is the middle of the gottiest garland wreath I have ever seen. Well the most important of our Christmas traditions is the night that we set up the tree, we have the "official lighting." Everyone must be present with a cup of eggnog. We turn out all the lights in the house and turn on the tree along with Christmas carols. I LOVE this tradtion. Although we have many, especially when it comes to holidays and food, the tree lighting is my favorite.
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