It’s hard to think about the holiday season without thinking about all of the food that accompanies the winter celebrations. Many of us celebrate with unique recipes that have been passed down for generations in our families. Baking and cooking these recipes provides comfort and connects us to our family and past.
For this article, I spoke with several members of the Saints community to hear about recipes and food traditions that have been passed down in their families.
When talking with Mr. Yee about his holiday traditions, he remarked “For Christmas, my mom would always make me and my brother do the labor of grinding peanuts for fresh lumpia. Basically, you stir fry all the ingredients, let them cool a bit, then put a lumpia wrapper down, put the romaine lettuce inside, then put the hoisin/tamarind if you want, put all of the filling in, top with peanuts, then wrap like a burrito.” Lumpia is a type of spring roll that comes from the Philippines and Indonesia.
Ms. Nadler shared, “I remember years ago asking an older relative how she made her amazing pecan pie, and she said it was the recipe on the Karo syrup bottle, with chocolate chips lining the bottom of the pie crust. That made us laugh, but now it’s a tradition.” Ms. Nadler went on to say that for Hanukkah her family “makes latkes, which are fried potato pancakes. I use my dad’s recipe, and the trick is to squeeze all of the moisture out of the shredded potatoes before you fry them. He always stuck the shredded potatoes in an old t-shirt to squeeze them out. And finally, make three times as many latkes as you think you’ll need.”
Sophomore, Gabbi Mackay, remarked that for Thanksgiving, “My dad makes a pumpkin soup and a broccoli soup and we also always make cherry pie. I like having these traditions because it bonds me with my family and especially brings me closer to my dad because they’re his recipes.”
When talking to freshman Noor El Allagui, she shared that her family doesn’t have a “traditional” Thanksgiving meal, stating “My mom makes this really good steak, and I don’t know the recipe, but it’s really good.”
Junior Garrett Lian said “Every year my grandma will make scalloped potatoes and they are always really good. I usually make mac n cheese, which started a couple years ago, and everyone usually really likes it.”
Lastly, sophomore Nora McDonough shared “For Christmas my Aunt always makes peanut butter blossoms, which are just peanut butter cookies with a Hershey kiss stuck in the middle. We also always have artichoke dip on Christmas, too, and on Christmas Eve we always have calamari and different types of seafood.”
