Revision Piece / Food of My Life Blog

Growing up my family was always made happy by our stomachs!  With certain family holidays or habitual events the first thing that comes to mind is the food that will be there.  The only real event or weekly occurence my family had with food was always breakfast on Sunday.  Not so much now that my sister and I are young adults, but growing up it was a small tradition for my family to make breakfast on Sunday morning.  Not cereal or yogurt like every other busy day during the week but it was the day for us to relax as a family and look forward to doing together within all the chaos of the rest of the week. The first holiday I can think of with a food tradition is Easter.  Every year my mom's mom makes a pastry called Banbury Tarts.  To be completely honest I have no idea everything in them but they have almost a pie crust outside with sugar coating and stuffed with a warm raisin, dates and nuts filling. Its strange how a food item can only be limited to eating one day out of an entire calendar year but that tart is only made for Easter dessert like clock work!  Another food tradition my family has, like many others I'm assuming, is corned beef and cabbage on St.Patricks Day.  Granted my family does not have a bit of Irish in us my mother likes to experiment with a different recipe on how to make it every year.  Each year better than the last... or maybe just because I remember it the most vividly.  It shows how food in a way is a tradition because it brings people together.  It creates a common place (dining table) and joy we can all share together and look forward to taking part in that day of the year.  Even with the foods I'm not a fan of that are made every year (Minced Meat Pie at Thanksgiving... nothing beats Pumpkin :) ) I still expect it to be on the table waiting for me to avoid.  Eaten or not it wouldn't be the same without those wonderfully avoidable traditions my family has and shares together every year. 

When I sit here and think about a tradition that every single person enjoys, the first thing that comes to my mind is the food.  I think that is why food is one of the principal traditions for holidays.  For every holiday with my family I can think of a specific food that will always be made for each occasion.  My first example, since St. Patrick’s Day is coming up right around the corner, is corned beef and cabbage.  Even thought there isn’t one bit of Irish in my family, every year my mom attempts a new way to make it, but only that one day a year.  To be completely honestly I don’t think anyone in my family is even really a fan of the dish but it’s a tradition that we still get excited to try every year… maybe in hopes she’ll make a recipe we’ll really like!  Another holiday that sticks out to me is Easter.  Besides still feeling like a little kid again when we dye eggs the other Easter tradition I always look forward to is Banbury Tarts.  Every year my grandma makes Banbury Tarts like her mother did while she was a little girl.  Banbury Tarts have almost a pie crust outside with sugar coating and are filled with a combination of warm nuts, raisins and dates, but they wouldn’t be complete without a scoop of vanilla ice cream instantly melting to the perfect dipping sauce for every delicious bite.  I’m getting hungry just thinking about them!  Then like many families there is of course the turkey, mashed potatoes, and pie (of course Pumpkin would be there!  Yum!) for Thanksgiving.  Even the smaller occasions like birthdays have their traditions.  No matter whose birthday or what year it is, it’s a necessity to have cake close at hand.  What makes them so memorable is because for some reason no matter how much we enjoy eating these foods, we limit them to that one given day in a year.  Even though when I think about it, it doesn’t make very much sense if you really enjoy eating something.  But I think that is what makes you appreciate it 10 times more.  Come to think about it it’s almost like holidays were created for an excuse to appreciate a specific type of food on that given day!  When it comes to traditions the most memorable and the most fulfilling (literallyJ) are the foods.

Not all traditions have to be on a special occasion or holiday though.  For as long as I can remember my family has always been busy.  From school, work, to after school activities, we were always on the go.  Being on the go means one thing for breakfast, quick and easy.  From what I’ve learned, quick and easy isn’t the best traits for quality food.  After having not so good breakfasts all week long, my family made a tradition of making breakfast and eating together every Sunday morning.  It wasn’t even because of the food, it was a way for us to unwind from the week and relax, and bond as a family.  Food isn’t so much about the taste at all.  Food is about the time and thought put into it.  Food makes such a great tradition because it brings people together.  Food is like the sun, everything is pulled towards it and we can’t survive without it!