Whenever I think of the holidays, Christmas in particular, the first thing that comes to my mind is the food. The food that my family prepares for our Christmas dinner is what brings all of us together. When I was a child, my grandmother and I would bond over watching the Food Network channel. We would always write down our favorite recipes from that day, and then we would try to recreate our favorite ones.
After years of writing down recipes from the Food Network channel, my grandmother came up with the idea of creating a family cookbook. The family cookbook consisted of all of the recipes that had been passed down from past generations and even included our favorite recipes that we had written down from watching the Food Network channel.
One of my favorite meals that my grandmother included in the family cookbook is her stuffing. Her stuffing comprises most of the same ingredients that a typical stuffing would consist of, things like bread, butter, celery, and pepper. However, it’s warm and moist consistency simply cannot be perfected by anyone else but her. Every time I eat stuffing it brings me comfort and reminds me of the bond that I share with my grandmother.
Another favorite recipe that I look forward to during Christmas is my mother’s banana pudding. I love this dessert so much because of how the rich layers of bananas, cookies, and pudding melt in your mouth. You can serve this dessert warm or cold, but my favorite way to eat it is when it is cold. Eating cold banana pudding always brings back Christmas memories with my family.
I never understood how big of an impact that food can make on someone until I started working with The Love Kitchen. If you aren’t familiar with The Love Kitchen, it is an organization that helps feed the homeless and homebound people of Knoxville, Tennessee. Seeing The Love Kitchen in person made realized how much I took food for granted. Food is a huge part of my life, and if my family and I struggled to get it, our bond wouldn’t be as strong as it is today.
When you think about the holidays and how much of it surrounds food, I would like to challenge you to also think about the people who are not fortunate enough to have it. If you would like to help us end hunger in the Knox County area, please check out our Indiegogo campaign titled, “Money Flows, Hunger Goes.” All of the proceeds will go towards to The Love Kitchen, and you will be given a reward depending on how much is donated.
I hope this week’s post has inspired you to share some of your favorite recipes with us or maybe even start your own family cookbook! Please feel free to share any testimonials of how food has brought you and your family closer together during the holidays. Who knows, you might even see your recipe or food testimonial featured in next week’s blog post!
Best wishes,
Anna Jones
