Feed 'Em Like Family

"If you love 'em like family, you should feed 'em like family!"

In today's day and age, a long holiday weekend is unplugging from the outside world and getting a super surge of family, football, and feasts. There are many different cultural holiday celebrations this time of year driving us back to our old stomping grounds or challenging us to lay our own unique tracks. The world cycles through a few holidays between October and January, beginning with Dia De Los Muertos we then move to Diwali, Thanksgiving, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year, etc. Though each celebration encompasses various traditions and cultural practices we all share the same familial connection and culinary communion during this time. It also serves as a time for rites of passage to take place and as a young woman in my twenties, my time for taking the holiday reigns is constantly approaching. You might be the host house for the first time, or bringing your own homemade dish to judgment day, or putting your own spin on the idea of tradition, no matter what, the pressure is on!

Holidays are a special time for all communities in America and for a majority of us, the holiday season is the Culinary Oscar's. The who's who of the family chefs come out to flex their spatulas and spice racks, new champions rise and fall, and some reign supreme no matter what. The true history of Thanksgiving is a very unpleasant one rooted in conquest and genocide and there weren't any of my ancestors on the Mayflower so I see the holiday season as a time to connect, cook, and cut up with family and friends turned family.

This season is also an ode to and celebration of the matriarchs of the family. We can all think of our favorite meal grandma made for the holidays, the auntie who makes the best poundcake, and of course who has the best macaroni. The young children get a crash course in cleaning greens, peeling potatoes, snapping peas, having some sips of the pot liquor, and passively getting a glimpse into the land of grown folk's business. All the while passing down traditions and solidifying core memories all around. Many times we gather over at grandmother's house to host these celebrations or another respected and culinarily sound matriarch's home because the food we eat is equally as important as the people we are sharing the meal with.

Typically we tend to only think of romantic relationships when we think about relationships that require maintenance and nurturing but all of our relationships require these same actions. The holidays allow us to reaffirm our love for our loved ones, make space for new memories, and reassure those around us that they matter to us. But, as we get older the holidays begin to look very different for us, we begin to grow up and create our own means of celebration, menus, and memories. We start moving away from home and establishing new roots which can make the holidays feel a little unfamiliar and less warm and loving if we aren't physically with some of the ones we love most. The beauty of food is that no matter how far you are one bite of the right dish can put you right back on that doorstep.

I grew up in the holiday host house, meaning every year we were cooking from sun up til sunset with some liquid loving to keep the momentum going! My momma is the auntie with the good mac and cheese and greens and my father is like the human Ratatouille so I have big shoes to fill. This year for National Cook-In Day my sister, my eldest niece, and I grabbed the holiday by the horns and cooked our favorite homestyle holiday favorites. We had the family staples, yams, mac and cheese, pasta salad, potato salad, stuffing, and ham. However, this year I unveiled a holiday remix to the menu, two herb and red wine marinated honey dijon rubbed Cornish hens. Now this isn't my first rodeo with putting on the golden apron for the season, I have been groomed into a well-seasoned chef so I create new recipes with confidence! Each year I like to bring something new to the table even if it's just putting a new spin on old classics! We can in fact get burnt out on the same old thing and elevating a family favorite can result in you getting the golden spatula granting you a seat at the family chef's table and ushering you into a new era of responsibility.

During this holiday season, I hope you hug your loved ones a little tighter, laugh a little louder, stay over that favorite cousin's house just a little longer, maybe even roll up those sleeves and get active in the kitchen! Try an age-old recipe from grandma's cookbook or create something all your own. There are no rules on how to holiday, the only expectation is to spread and receive all the love you can. So happy holiday from the Taste and Texture family to you and yours!

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