Passing on Family Traditions Through Food

My grandmother was born inYugoslavia– when it still existed asYugoslavia– near the Adriatic Sea.  Her world until she moved to the United States in her late 20s was far different than mine, but it was one she shared with me and talked about with me, mostly while I was sitting in the kitchen with her, watching her cook, taking deep breaths and absorbing the smells.

I often wish I would have had a few more years to sit and absorb from my grandmother, that I wouldn’t have been so careless with my time with her.  Those things she shared with me, her recipes and stories, the cookbooks with notes in her handwriting, I will cherish forever.  They are my little part of her that I hope to pass on to my children.

My grandmother made the best Christmas cookies.  They were more pastry than cookie, each one hand assembled, rolled or formed.  She would pack them up tight in tins and bike them over to my childhood home.  We knew when the tin arrived that Christmas was just around the corner, beckoning us with hot chocolate, Christmas carols and slow-roasted meats.

Every year at Christmas I painstakingly roll and form cookies, cut them into rings and tops, sandwich them together with warm apricot jam, dip half honey hearts in chocolate and package them in tins for my aunts and uncles.  My children have learned to roll, too, and as I sit and watch them carry on my grandma’s legacy through her recipes and her traditions I’m proud.  I’m proud of where she came from, proud of what she accomplished and proud that I am her grandchild.

I know the importance of sharing food culture so that it may be passed on.  As we enter the holiday season, consider the traditions in your family, the things that will live on long after you’re gone with your children and your children’s children.

Do you have food traditions that you’re sharing with your children?

Editor’s note: This post was written by Shaina Olmanson, author of the Food for My Family blog.