Family Traditions

When the holidays come around it stirs up memories for me.  I think about when I was growing up.  How different life was then.  We only had a few channels on TV and we lived for the night when the Christmas shows were on.  Rudolf, Santa Claus and maybe How the Grinch Stole Christmas; if I was brave enough to watch that one.  My mom would always bake a ton of different sweets.  Some of our family favorites are fudge made with marshmallow fluff, creamy caramels (which turned out hard some years), cookies of all kinds, Chex mix, haystacks and many others.  My sister in Oregon made caramels yesterday while her grandchildren were over.  Today I am going to bake with my kiddos and continue those holiday traditions. 

My mother was English.  Her family traveled to California by ship around the horn of South America from Cornwall, England.  When they settled in the foothills of the Sierra's they worked in the mines.  You can image that is was dark and cold so having a warm meal during your shift was a must.  The women would make them a meat filled turnover called a pasty.  Not a pastey, but a pasty.  Click here for more on the  History of the Pasty. 

The pasty was wrapped in newspaper and put in a "lunch pale".  The men would hang the pale over a candle to keep it warm.  My family adds potatoes and onions and seasons with parsley, salt and pepper.  Today you can make a short cut by using premade pastry dough, although there is nothing better than homemade.  It just takes a little more prep time.  

Yesterday I made pasties for my family.  My kids love them.  They are a simple 1 dish meal that makes my heart warm.  Oh and my mother ALWAYS served pasties with a Pepsi.  It really is a must as the pasties can seem rich with the pastry and meat.  Plus we cut ours open and dollop with butter and ketchup.  Talk about comfort food!

As time has passes I long for the things that make me feel warm and comfortable, like when times were simple; when I was little girl.  No worries, no responsibilities, just living life.  When the holidays come around I miss my parents, my Nana and of course my love, Doug.  The little things like baking, decorating with the things that I have seen since childhood and sending/receiving Christmas cards make me feel like I am not just living life, but 

Living Life Out Loud.

Culture for your kids

When I was a kid growing up my parents were patrons of the arts.  They had season tickets to 2 theaters in San Francisco and spent every other Saturday in the "City" (as we call it) going to watch a show and dine out with friends.  Subsequently I also spent a lot of time in the "City".  Whether we were shopping, site seeing or dining out.  All of which are my favorite activities to this day.  

As I am now a parent I find it easy to stay at home with little kids.  I mean, it takes real effort to prepare for the day, load up, entertain and stay cheery with antsy little boys in the car or waiting in line for something.  But what I have come to learn is the more you do things with your kids the better they are at being in public.  Taking them out to eat can be a challenge for a 3 year old.  But if you are consistent with your efforts, they become a very patient 4 year old.

So this year I took the boys to San Francisco for the lighting of the tree in Union Square and site seeing in the city.  We walked to Coit Tower and saw the "City" from a bird's eye view.  We enjoyed the Merry Go Round at Pier 39.  We watched the street performers along Fisherman's Wharf.  Rode a cable car to Union Square; which stalled and we had to get a push start up hill.  After watching the tree lighting ceremony along with thousand's of other holiday onlookers we caught a taxi back to where we stayed the night.  When we awoke we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped for photo op.  


This was a memory that I will always cherish.  The boys want to go again next year and go to Chinatown and eat in Little Italy.  Sounds like a plan to me!

So the next time you decide to just stay at home, push yourself to go out instead.  Create a passion for culture in your kids.  

Teach them to Live Life Out Loud Culturally.