My Favorite Food Tradition

My favorite food tradition centers on the holiday season. Although the family has grown to have families of their own, and many now spend holidays with their new families, the one thing we all try to do each year, is get together and do all of the holiday baking. Pies, cakes, cookies and candy we make them all.

The annual event usually gets started with the host preparing a nice batch of homemade kahlua. We usually plan to make this a weekend long event since we can’t have a bunch of drunks driving on the roads. As guests arrive, there is a lot of hugs, and excitement. While the men scurry off to do some Christmas shopping (AKA getting away from the chaos), or other “guy” thing, the kahlua comes out and some serious Christmas cheer begins. While many of the recipes are from my childhood, new ones have emerged as my brothers have gotten married, and their wives have shared their childhood favorites. Sadly, this might be the only time that we all get together each year so, we spend it catching up on everyone’s lives. The kids, who are all teenagers and young adult now, have a blast as well. At the end of the weekend, every family takes a bunch of baked goods to share with other friends. Tearful goodbyes are said and we all head off for another busy years. As some of the kids are having kids of their own, I am looking forward to continuing this tradition for years to come.