One of the main reasons I am writing this blog is to archive my families food (and family) traditions so that one day my children can pass along these stories and recipes to their families.

I know it is cliché but food is love. I truly believe that preparing and sharing a meal with another human is one of the highest expressions of love you can show for another person.

Years ago I was invited to attend the final projects for a college class on food and culture. The students were tasked with creating a recipe with ingredients that were chosen by and reflected each student in the group. The ingredients didn’t always ‘go together’ and the final recipes were interesting to say the least. More importantly though, I will never forget how the students explained why they chose certain ingredients. It was heartwarming because most of the stories they told while on the surface seemed to center around the ingredient they chose but really it was more about the connections and memories they made with their loved ones and less about the ‘blueberries’ themselves.

What I love is how food creates these fantastic memories and those memories get passed down generation to generation. Because of this, I try to be very intentional about the food traditions I create for our family. I want my kids to have these fond memories about Saturday morning when dad always picked up fresh bagels that were still warm when he brought them home. I want them to remember how every time mom cooked dinner, she played jazz and drank red wine. I want them to remember the delicious southern breakfast of grits, eggs, homeade biscuits, and bacon on Sunday mornings. I want them to remember that every Christmas morning mom made her homeade donuts (made from canned biscuits ;)). These traditions aren’t profound, they are simple but will mean so much to them when they have their own families one day.

What are some of your food traditions?

This blog will chronicle some of my adventures cooking from my favorite cook books, family recipes, online recipes, and recipes that I created myself. I hope you try some of them for your family. Definitely let me know how it turned out…it should be fun!