Christmas Kugelis and The Persistence of Tradition

So many of us are having to celebrate/endure the holidays without loved ones this year. The luckiest among us will gather again one day. We can honor the loved ones who won’t be joining us at our tables this year or next year by remembering them through traditions and seasonal rituals

This illustration, from the Woolgathering Winter Issue, depicts my Mom’s memory of holiday meals in her Grandma’s basement which was stocked with a long row of tables full of traditional Lithuanian foods, boisterous family members, and so much steamy heat from all of cooking and the people that my Mom thought it was raining indoors. 

My Grandma continued to feed the family in that same steamy basement until my Mom took over the tradition in her own home. I will miss eating the traditional Lithuanian foods elbow to elbow in a crowded house with windows dripping in Christmas condensation. I will miss the family members we lost this year even more, but I will honor and remember them by cooking some of our Lithuanian favorites with my little family in my own, les crowded home. 

It’s amazing how family and cultural traditions live on even when we don’t. What family or cultural traditions do you maintain? Do they help you to persist and endure as they do me? Have you begun any new traditions?

This illustration is from the same Woolgathering Winter Issue about cooking traditional Lithuanian food for holiday meals. This depicts me grating potatoes for the Lithuanian Kugelis, a potato casserole that is a special holiday favorite in my family. Usually we take turns grating the potatoes because it is so labor intensive. We’ll see if I can bribe my kids to help me tomorrow, or maybe I’m strong enough to go it alone! 

What foods are you looking forward to eating over the next couple of days?