Memories of Christmas Past

Posted by Debbie Kwiatoski Dec 15, 2008

For some, the first sounds of Christmas carols in the air, the first light snow, or even the lines toddlers and young children - their eyes bright and hopeful with the expectation of "really meeting Santa" - lining up to sit on some strange guy's lap mean that it's nearly Christmas again. For me...and I suspect that for many, many others...it's more the strange, exotic smells emanating from the kitchen.

In our family, certain senior relatives had distinct specialties that would mainly appear on our family's holiday table this time of year.

From Grandma came a flaky paklava, dripping with sweet syrup and clarified butter; a few bites could send you to another place and time...too many could send you out for a long walk! Aunt Rose's specialty were her famous "fish cookies"...no, not created from actual fish - they got their name from the carefully snipped "scales" that ran their buttery length. My brother Rob and his children contributed the chereog, Mom would make a special cinnamon coffee cake, and I would bring whatever I felt like that year - often a rich yogurt-based, syrup-soaked semolina cake, served with kaimak.

I cannot even begin to count the calories consumed over those days....but in a family, and in a shared cultural memory where simply having enough to eat to remain alive for another day, counting calories belongs in another place...another time...another meaning.

Grandparents and aunties have so long ago passed on, but before they left us, thank God they left us with so many memories...and the recipes to allow us to continue keeping Christmas in our own family way...and through these foods and old stories, they are here with us again.