A Week of Food Traditions

So many traditions revolve around food, shopping for ingredients, cooking and of course, eating. Sure, I have my non-food traditions, like watching the giant balloons being blown up for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. But even that usually ends with a Vietnamese feast from one of our favorite take out spots. This past week, there were many delicious food moments, which I happily can call tradition.

For the third year in a row, Jackie and I made apple cake together for our respective Rosh Hashana dinners. And while our cakes baked, the kids played and even stirred up their own batch of chocolate chip cookies. Even though we part ways for dinner, our time together preparing our food becomes a special part of our holiday. And then, the doorbell rang with another nice surprise from a friend — a box of homemade Rugelach, not the first gift of food from this thoughtful friend, and another welcome tradition.

The next night, I spent an hour in the kitchen with my kids preparing a festive meal. My daughter made mashed potatoes, my 5 year old sautéed cauliflower and all three got to mold matzah balls for soup. They were having so much molding and plopping the balls into the chicken stock that I am certain we’ve started a family ritual.

It’s incredible to me how many meaningful aspects of my life originate from food. Look at the significance in one small week! And, to think we have 52 weeks in a year to pack in tradition.