It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Some thoughts on the holiday season + a gift guide for the foodies in your life!

My mom has about 50 nutcrackers, they all hide in our storage unit year-round, and after Thanksgiving “they’re all free from jail,” as my brother puts it. These nutcrackers are all different shapes and sizes, some as small as the palm of my hand, others as tall as my legs. Last week the band of 50 Christmas men marched into my home and were placed all over the living room and kitchen areas.

But I won’t get to see how Mom displayed them this year. Did she put the two tall guys at the front as if guarding our entrance? Is the stumpy-looking one still around? What about the one that looks like a fisherman that always made me laugh, is he still in the kitchen? And the Santa Nutcracker, did he make it to another Christmas?

It’s yet another year I won’t get to celebrate with my close family, 5^th in a row to be exact. With the pandemic and immigration processes and, well, the socioeconomic situation in Venezuela, spending the holidays together has seemed more of a farfetched and impossible idea over the years.

Migration for Venezuelans has been at its highest with the Venezuelan diaspora reaching an estimated 7.7 million people, and though the holidays can seem a little bittersweet, joyful and warm but full of nostalgia as we all ache to celebrate together, finding connection to our roots through food has kept us all intertwined during the holiday season year after year, or at least I’d like to believe. Traditional dishes such as pernil and pannettone are at our dinner tables, alongside pumpkin pie and gingerbread cookies. We adapt new traditions and dishes from the places we inhabit and cook our own traditional recipes honoring those who cooked them before us, and savoring a little piece of home.

I still very much love this time of year. Though not able to celebrate with direct family, these past few years I’ve celebrated with my partner and other loved ones. My husband is Jewish and every year we host a Christmas party with our Jewish friends as an excuse to gather before the year ends. He’s grown fond of buying and decorating our tree over the years, and I’ve grown fond of exploring traditional foods and learning new prayers in Hebrew.

We honor and celebrate both our traditions, but with everything going on in Israel this year it feels extra important to have a space for lighting Hannukah candles together. We bought a banana menorah which cracked us both up and felt quite fitting with our décor, and replaced our old one to save for future occasions passed down to us by his mother. Next to the banana with candles, I plan on adding a little nutcracker of my own.

Having an interfaith household might seem complicated to some, and though we are in the infancy of our marriage, it has been a very rewarding decision. I jokingly say that I want to have the best of both worlds; I want the seder dinner and the easter eggs, I want the lighting of the Menorah and the gifts on Christmas day.

But all jokes aside and beyond sharing celebrations, I want to work on leaving a legacy of love, and to do so we get to choose our traditions together, we get to write our own story, and we get to share our wisdom, customs, and beliefs with those we love. While our love transcends societal norms, we opt to uphold values and traditions that hold significance for both us and our families.

I’ve found it fascinating how food is central to Jewish culture. From the symbolic Passover Seder meal, where unleavened bread and bitter herbs recount the Exodus story, to the festive Hanukkah latkes and Sufganiyot, each dish tells a tale of heritage and shared identity within the Jewish community.

Christmas and Easter, on the other hand, have always been more of a joyous celebration rather than a religious observation to me, even though I grew up attending mass on a regular basis. During Christmas, festive feasts bring us together with our loved ones, and the flavors of Christmas remind me of tradition and warmth, more than identity and heritage, but I make sure to tie in my roots to my celebrations where I can.

As I’ve spent the holidays far from home, a constant at my table has always been the hallaca, a traditional Venezuelan tamale-like dish filled with “guiso” or a combination of meats, olives, capers, raisins, etc. The hallaca tastes like home, and it is such a part of our holiday meals that I tend to count how many I eat every holiday season (none so far, *sigh*).

Other foods you’ll find at our table include pan de jamón or ham bread, latkes also known as potato pancakes which I love to have with sour cream, roasted pork and white Russians instead of eggnog, and Sufganiyot or jelly donuts.

There’s a communal aspect to food in the holidays. It heightens the holiday spirit as we bake goods or prep dishes in advance to gift our loved ones. Food brings us together in the kitchen for cooking and prepping day of, with members of all generations kneading, stirring, steaming, and roasting. It unites us as we tell stories while munching on treats over a beautifully set dinner table. It’s the sharing, the remembering, the gathering, all the -ings that bring me joy.

Though central to our celebrations, traditions also go beyond honoring foods and recipes, and I find them a funny thing. We create these little rituals based on superstition with the hopes of self-betterment and good luck in the upcoming year. In Venezuela, on New Year’s Eve, women wear different colored underwear to attract what they want; yellow for money/luck, red for love, etc. We grab empty suitcases and walk them around the block in hopes of lots of traveling the following year, and we eat 12 grapes once the clock strikes 12 and make 12 wishes as we scarf down half-chewed grapes and champagne.

I was talking to my co-worker who said she and her family have pumpkin soup and cut oranges when the clock strikes 12 like they used to do in Haiti. My other co-worker from the Philippines said she opens all the windows and doors at home to “let the old year out and the new one in.” She also wears polka dots to attract money and wealth.

My Cuban co-worker said they burn dolls to “burn away the old year,” to which my Russian co-worker added that some people run around naked, “you know, to shed away all the bad stuff from the past year.” All power to the naked folks, I guess.

We laughed at the absurdity of all these little superstitious rituals, but all agreed we’d stick to scarfing down grapes and champagne, and hoping for the best as we clink our flutes and cheer to a new year.

To those who celebrate, I hope this holiday season you treasure your time with loved ones, honor your traditions, and where possible make new ones, and savor every bite that tastes like home.

I’ve been obsessed with gift guides and decided to try my hand at creating one. With the season of giving in full swing, here are some thoughtful gifts for the foodies in your life that bypass the need for hours of failed baking and culinary experimentation. (No, none of the links are sponsored lol, I wish, these are just some quirky, fun, thoughtful things I’ve found and loved. For all Etsy links just scroll down.)

For the home baker: These oven mitts are worth hanging in any kitchen, and this cake stand will look beautiful at any gathering this holiday season.

For the art and food lover: Wall art makes a great gift, this Soup du Jour collage print or these mini teeny tiny tinned fish print are sure to make someone happy. This coloring book might help them forget they have too many dishes waiting to be washed.

For the hostess with the mostest: These tablecloths always leave me in awe, and I’d love to try and make one (someday). These embroidered cocktail napkins can be personalized with any phrase you like (I love the “Please Leave By 9”).

For the one dismantling diet culture: Anti-Diet book by Christy Harrison MPH, RD, or Just Eat It by Laura Thomas PhD are amazing reads. This intuitive eating deck card and this Break Food Rules t-shirt are great gifts for anyone rebelling against diet culture.

For the one who loves grocery shopping: This market tote could double as a grocery bag or picnic basket, and Baggu reusable bags can honestly do no harm.

For the one with all the snacks: You can’t go wrong with a tote bag for carrying all the treats and sweets, or a porcelain charcuterie board for if they feel like sharing!

And the one with all the beverages: Brumate > Stanley cup, these don’t spill! Or a temperature control mug so their tea/coffee won’t go cold before finishing it (I’m so guilty of this!)

For the homebody: This butter-shaped candle and a croissant lamp for ambiance, Molly Baz’s new cookbook to keep them busy cooking, and an Opening Hours tea towel for cleaning up the aftermath.

For the mothers, grandmothers, and in-laws in your life: A recipe journal to hand down from generation to generation (I love that this one has conversions for standard measurements). An engraved cutting board with your family’s favorite recipe makes for such a thoughtful gift too.

For the regular cook: It’s definitely not a need, but thank you Graza for making olive oil so fun. This Maldon sea salt flakes bucket is sure to last them many holiday seasons, and this ravioli-shaped spoon rest is great for any home cook who’s also a pasta lover.

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Happy cooking, happy shopping, and happy holiday prepping to you :)