Friday, February 18, 2011Well this is much harder than I thought that it would be. As far as the conventional sense of tradition; my family, meaning my parents and my childhood, we had very few traditions especially around food. Being in a military family, we did not ever celebrate holidays with extended family. I'm sure that we had full meals, but I don't remember much about big turkeys and a table full of food. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I do remember my mom talking about eating something special for New Years Day, but she didn't cook it often and now I've been out of the family home for over 30 years and Mom's been gone for 12 years, I'm guessing that it was ham hock and black-eyed peas. It was definitely something terribly Southern and cheap. My mom used to say that it eating it would bring prosperity for the New Year.
I will say that for my children, who have since grown up in a military environment, will remember not just the Japanese additions to the Thanksgiving table, but the single Airmen that we would have into our homes during the holidays so that they wouldn't be alone. Sharing the dinner table was our tradition.
Now that we have settled here in Washington, a far cry from our Tampa, Florida roots, we do celebrate our holidays as a small family (we just didn't have that many single people around away from their families) we have tried on some new traditions. Before our older children married we tried a pajama Thanksgiving dinner. It was funny and I have pictures. (I wish I could figure out how to upload them. This would be the perfect post to add pictures!)
Now that the children are older, my youngest son, 16, has started a new tradition this year, he made cheesecakes instead of pies a tradition that we borrowed from a family that we have shared several Thanksgivings with here in Washington. This was also the first year that my daughter and her family hosted Thanksgiving dinner. 
One thing that I have that my childhood family never had, is the formal table settings. I have nice china for Thanksgiving and a different pattern for Christmas. We have crystal glasses and very nice flatware all that is hand washed and put nicely away in their respective containers. So when we do sit down for family dinners around holidays, we lay out the nice tablecloth, get out he "good" dishes, eat a wonderful meal and then complain about who has to wash and who has to dry!
I hope that I have offered something for my children to build their traditions on.
I do remember my mom talking about eating something special for New Years Day, but she didn't cook it often and now I've been out of the family home for over 30 years and Mom's been gone for 12 years, I'm guessing that it was ham hock and black-eyed peas. It was definitely something terribly Southern and cheap. My mom used to say that it eating it would bring prosperity for the New Year.
I will say that for my children, who have since grown up in a military environment, will remember not just the Japanese additions to the Thanksgiving table, but the single Airmen that we would have into our homes during the holidays so that they wouldn't be alone. Sharing the dinner table was our tradition.
Now that we have settled here in Washington, a far cry from our Tampa, Florida roots, we do celebrate our holidays as a small family (we just didn't have that many single people around away from their families) we have tried on some new traditions. Before our older children married we tried a pajama Thanksgiving dinner. It was funny and I have pictures. (I wish I could figure out how to upload them. This would be the perfect post to add pictures!)
Now that the children are older, my youngest son, 16, has started a new tradition this year, he made cheesecakes instead of pies a tradition that we borrowed from a family that we have shared several Thanksgivings with here in Washington. This was also the first year that my daughter and her family hosted Thanksgiving dinner.
One thing that I have that my childhood family never had, is the formal table settings. I have nice china for Thanksgiving and a different pattern for Christmas. We have crystal glasses and very nice flatware all that is hand washed and put nicely away in their respective containers. So when we do sit down for family dinners around holidays, we lay out the nice tablecloth, get out he "good" dishes, eat a wonderful meal and then complain about who has to wash and who has to dry!
I hope that I have offered something for my children to build their traditions on.
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