The Embrace of Family Traditions

Several years ago, I wrote on the Chart Chick blog about one of my favorite Christmas traditions (http://thechartchick.blogspot.com/2013/12/one-of-my-favorite-family-christmas.html) .  In my family, it is traditional to have English Trifle on Christmas Eve. I have British ancestry, and my Grandfather Darrell Dana loved it.  He loved all things custard and tapioca.  I get that from him.  We only have trifle on this one day of the year.  So it is really connected with Christmas to me. 

Christmas 1990 was my first Christmas away from home.  In fact, I was on the other side of the world.  My first marriage was falling apart and in those days you couldn't even call home much from so far away.  I was in the Middle East and the First Gulf War was about to break out.  It was a very stressful time.  I was lonely and it didn't seem like Christmas at all.  Some friends invited us over for Christmas Eve and when they brought out English Trifle for desert, it was like the heavens opened and the light shown down on my holiday.  It was a love note from home, from my ancestors, from the past.  Like a big warm hug.  The embrace of a Family Tradition.

When my Mom made trifle, year after year, she didn't know that she was sending that love note into the future.  But sometimes it is those little things that make those connections.  It can be those traditions and that shared history that ties us together.  Those are the pieces that make a family.  Traditions are part of the team narrative you have together.

This means so much more to me now that I have young adult children.  Next year, my eldest son will be the age I was in 1990.  All three of my kids are just about to leave the nest, and while I have them all home this Christmas, I find myself on the other side of this equation as the mother in the story. What have I done to create those bonds and establish the traditions that will bind my children to our family and fill their hearts with peace and love from us when they need it?  Like most well-intentioned mothers, I've made every mistake in the book.  And I'm trying to hug them enough right now.  But hopefully I've done enough that they will have those hugs from me in the future too.  Hopefully the right pieces will be there when they need it.

What are you doing in your family?  The holidays are a big time for traditions.  What are you doing this month to celebrate your family history and create a sense of heritage in your family?  Sometimes the best traditions are little ones that are practiced all through the year.  What will your family members have to embrace them during hard times?  Hug them now, but be intentional about the hugs you send into the future too.  My mom did, and I'm so thankful for that.

I'm bringing the trifle to our family gathering this Christmas Eve.  Thankfully my Mom and Dad will both be there and I'll get to share it with them and thank them again for this bit of light in my life.  How amazing that a simple thing like a trifle could mean so much. 

Mother's Day Dessert: Strawberry Pie Recipe

Pat Dana, Summer 1965  Isn't she the cutest?

If you've ever heard an interview or a lecture with me about my Zap the Grandma Gap books you know that I give my Mom all the credit for raising a Family History loving family.  Most of the ideas in my book either come from her or are inspired by her.   That's why I dedicated the book to my parents.  It is really written to honor them and the family legacy they taught me about. Mom and I just enjoyed a fun trip to the NERGC conference together (check it out on the Chart Chick blog.)

What you may not know is that my Mom is also an awesome cook.  When she went to college, she was really concerned about raising a good family, so she majored, and graduated in Home Economics.  I remember her telling me that they tested all different kinds of pie crust recipes in one of her foods classes to see what the best way to a flaky crust was.  So for Mother's Day this year, we created an infographic with Mom's excellent Strawberry Pie recipe.  She didn't like the Jello version, and she didn't like the cornstarch version, so she combined them together to make the perfect pie recipe. Please share a favorite recipe that belongs to your mother in the comments below!

We have our issues like any other family, but I'm super blessed with a great Mom.  Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

Sharing Family History Through Food: Holiday Avocado Salsa

We hope you have enjoyed all the yummy recipes we have shared this fall.  We end this year with a colorful and meaningful salsa recipe from Lynette, our newest chart and shipping assistant. Lynette shares the story behind her recipe:

"I grew up in Cupertino, California in the heart of Silicon Valley. In those years, Santa Clara County was the world capital for apricot growing.  There were orchards everywhere, including behind our home. About 5 miles away, up a winding road in the Cupertino foothills, my grandparents had built a home in the late 1940's on several acres of rural property. My grandmother, Gladys Brush, went to work planting fruit trees and raising goats and chickens. One of my grandmother's favorite trees was a healthy pomegranate tree, but finding good recipes for pomegranates wasn't easy. My grandmother was a health nut, and as a kid I didn't like much of what she fixed for us. One year, however, in the 1960's, she found this recipe in a Sunset Magazine.  It was a big hit in our family! Every Thanksgiving and Christmas it was a favorite appetizer.  My parents and I both planted pomegranate trees in California that we shared with the family just for this recipe.  Now that most of my family has been priced out of Silicon Valley and live in climates that can't grow them, my brother in Vegas is the keeper of the family tree!  This recipe has been passed down, shared and enjoyed for 60 years now!"

You may just instinctively know some of your family's recipes if you make them often. When they are just in your head it is harder to pass them down to the next generation. Write down the ingredients and instructions in a way that anyone could prepare the food without knowing beforehand how to make it. Record the circumstances in which the recipes were used and who used them, along with a few details or stories about the creators' lives. Make sure your children and grandchildren have copies of the recipes. Family cookbooks or recipe card collections make great gifts!

Visit Zap The Grandma Gap for more info on how to make family history fun and to purchase the Zap the Grandma Gap books with additional recipes and activities for families.

Please comment with your one of your favorite family recipes!

 

Sharing Family History Through Food: Pumpkin Dessert Recipe

Zap The Grandma Gap is all about sharing your family's stories and memories through the generations. Food is a fun and easy way to connect generations and most likely the food you cook is already a mixture of the recipes that were handed down from your family members. Your comfort food is probably what your mother and father gave you as you were growing up, and their comfort food was most likely what the family made for them. Food has so many connotations and feelings attached to it. From celebrations to traditional ethnic foods, your cooking and eating patterns are probably already a demonstration of your family's background.

Erin, one of Family ChartMaster's expert chart designers, shares a favorite family recipe for October.  This yummy pumpkin dessert recipe comes from her mother. Erin shares,"I remember when my mother first received this recipe, it became her new favorite fall recipe. It seemed like my mother was always looking for easy desserts to take to the church socials, neighborhood potlucks, or to the dinners my parents would have with their friends. We made this dessert at least 5-6 times every fall. By the time I was a teenager, Mom would have me make this for her at least ½ the time. Although my mother has been gone almost 4 years now, a part of her is always around when I decide to make these tasty pumpkin treats."

Visit Zap The Grandma Gap for more info on how to make family history fun and to purchase the Zap the Grandma Gap books with more recipes and activities for families.

Please share your thoughts when you try out this recipe and we'd love to know one of your favorite family recipes!

Sharing Family History Through Food: Apple Crisp Recipe

Food can be a great way to bring the past back to life.  You can literally smell and taste what your ancestors experienced when you cook using the same recipes they cooked with.  When you cook for your children and grandchildren, make sure they know the history of your family's recipes; who made the dish in the past and some details about that person's life.  And if there are any entertaining stories about how or when the food was used before, or who ate it, be sure to share those.  Food is always a great incentive to spend time together.

We thought it would be fun to share some family recipes from our staff over the next few months as we approach fall and the holiday season. The brisk cool evenings signal that the fall season is in the air.  Thoughts of baking, yummy smells, and cozy nights are on our  minds. 

Christine, our marketing specialist, shares this favorite recipe for her mother's apple crisp.  She remembers having it many times during her childhood, sometimes even for breakfast! Yum. She says if you want to make it extra delicious, double the recipe for the oatmeal topping so there's plenty of crisp on top.  The recipe comes from her mother, who got the recipe from Christine's Great Aunt Millie from Nebraska.

Comment below with your thoughts on this recipe or tell us about a favorite family recipe of yours!

For more fun ideas on how to share your family history with your children and grandchildren, visit the Zap The Grandma Gap Blog or purchase the Zap The Grandma Gap books.

Mother's Day Infographic

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