Christmas in July Series - Developing Your Own Holiday Food Traditions

Every holiday season, many of us look forward to eating special treats made using long-held and cherished family recipes. Many families have holiday food traditions they hold dear. There are those who cannot imagine a holiday without Grandma’s date pinwheel cookies or Great Uncle Peter’s cornbread stuffing. Year after year, we enjoy these treats and use them to stay connected with our families and personal histories.

More than mere sustenance, the traditional foods we enjoy year after year are a source of family pride and lead to conversations about family members and fond memories of holidays past. Family food traditions can be one of the most important parts of the holiday season for many people.

There was once, however, a time in each family history before those recipes existed. Grandma had to make those date pinwheel cookies for the first time. When she did, she may have placed them right next to sugar cookies made with her Grandma’s secret recipe, having no idea they would become such an integral part of the holiday. Great Uncle Peter’s cornbread stuffing only came about because Great Aunt Beth was sick years ago and he had to come up with some way to stuff a bird himself on Christmas morning. His reliance on a simple recipe card with a few personal touches started a family tradition, too. Grandma and Great Uncle Peter didn’t intent to create a longstanding tradition that generation after generation would enjoy. They simply hoped that they could add a little bit to the holiday meal by doing something different.

The holiday food traditions to which we now look forward were the byproducts of experimentation. The creators of the original dishes may have never intended to make them again. They just happened to feel like doing something different or adding something new to the holiday table.