New Holiday Traditions Inspired By My Culture

I grew up with an amazing chef for a grandmother (my abuelita), and family family traditions started in the kitchen. I used to think to myself, why couldn’t we just have a normal Thanksgiving feast with turkey and mashed potatoes like everyone else? Thanksgiving and any holiday or special event with my family consisted of tamales, mole, menudo, rice, beans, hand-made flour tortillas and buñuelos (cinnamon chips) for dessert. I know what you’re thinking, why on earth would I complain about that?

My grandmother is now 94, and unfortunately, she now relies on our poor cooking for the holidays. I have some great stories to tell my children about all my cooking fails standing beside my grandmother, but the worst was my inability to perfect the round tortillas—my tortillas came out looking like the states.

But guess what we eat now? Turkey and mashed potatoes! I WISH I could go back to those traditional Mexican feasts she would whip for us, or that one of us had inherited her natural cooking skills. Now it’s up to me to come up with a few NEW traditions in preparation for Thanksgiving and upcoming holidays.

Starting my own family traditions:

In honor of my abuelita, I will start my list with a recipe.

1. Pozole

While I am not the best cook nor do I have the patience to attempt a full Mexican feast, I have found I can incorporate bits and pieces of our culture into our now traditional turkey meal. Pozole is something I started making for my family last year during holiday meals (only holidays). It’s basically a delicious green chile soup with hominy and shredded chicken. This is a great starter dish before the big meal. Check out my favorite recipe on favorite pozole recipe on Pinterest. If you want to make it spicy, substitute a few of the jalapeños with serrano peppers. My grandmother was very proud of my dish!

2. Tree of Thankfulness

Thanksgiving is a time for my family to express gratitude and kindness so we may ignite a joyful and giving spirit for the holidays. Growing up, we had tons of family prayer time which I believe lead me as an adult to begin the Tree of Thankfulness. I bought a white bare tree and had all the kids of the family cut leaves out of construction paper. We punched holes and pulled and tied a string through the leaves so they act like ornaments on the tree. During Thanksgiving, everyone writes on a leaf what they are most thankful for. Every year we decorate with the old leaves from the year prior and on Thanksgiving we replace them with the new leaves. These are fun to read before mealtime as a family.

3. Table Runner Handprints

At holiday celebrations, my abuelita typically decorated with her fanciest handmade crochet doilies. I don’t have this talent, but it inspired me to purchase a plain white table runner and try the handprint tradition, which will double as a decoration and a fun craft each year for our family. Bonus: Keepsake for my girls!

4. Family Photo

Mom always had a disposable camera around to take a few photos for the holidays. So, every year we set the timer on our phones and snap FUNNY family photos. It’s been so fun to pull these pictures up every year!

5. Movies

Telenovelas! Spanish soap operas were our THING growing up. My mom, my grandmother, me, and even my dad would join in on the drama. Picture Jane the Virgin…yes, this is accurate! I’ve watched telenovelas from the womb, and I can recall a few of my favorites. While I don’t watch these now with my children (haha different times), we do love to watch movies over the holidays. It brings our family together in a cozy environment all while sipping on some Nestle Abuelita Hot Chocolate. Have you tried it? Please do! P.S. When I sit down with my kids to watch movies, I typically flip it to Spanish audio to help train their brain to understand both languages. I wish I would’ve started them sooner, but I’m not going to beat myself up about it—I’m doing what I can now!

6. Family Baking

I will end with another recipe because food is obviously life! Buñuelos have and always will be a tradition in our family. This dessert is a great way to end our holiday meals, but I would also suggest it as a treat for a Friendsgiving potluck. Try it with your little ones. Enjoy!

I’d love to hear about your family cultural traditions—drop a comment!