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Life Under Pines
New Traditions, and Old By Sundi McLaughlin
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radition (cue the Fiddler on the Roof Soundtrack) … we all have them. The thing with family traditions is when you grow up with them daily, yearly, etc., they seem completely normal. But when you introduce your holiday traditions to others, it is only then that you realize how nuanced and possibly bizarre are those things which, though endearing to you, might not translate. These moments are dramatically highlighted during the holiday months. We are passionate, willful and irrational when it comes to these childhood memories and we want them carefully recreated every year to commemorate the perfect holiday. This passion and strict adherence to custom is never more on display than when you sit down for a Thanksgiving meal with a group outside of your family bubble. If you have had the misfortune to host a large party for Thanksgiving, the bizarre, food-specific requests can go on forever. They don’t want to know if there will be stuffing, they want to know if it is cornbread, French bread, meat or meatless. These aren’t just side dishes, these represent a person, a moment in time, a place … and it’s serious! Each culinary plea is asked with anticipatory glee and before
30 ASOUTHERNSOPHISTICATION
you know it you are making two different styles of turkey and 51 randomly requested side dishes. Grandma Gloria’s cottage cheese Jell-O salad, Aunt Linda’s cold oyster stew, Uncle Mike’s father’s mother’s marshmallow green bean casserole with just a hint of cayenne (eye roll). It goes on and on. I used to attempt to bring those recipes to life only to be met with polite disappointment. The thing is, none of us think our family dishes or drinking habits are unusual until we drop our guards and invite others to share the love for the meat Jell-O your Grandma Ethel makes every Christmas Eve. Even though you could make it anytime, you only eat Grandma’s version one night a year. Then you watch the attentive, smiling faces turn to horror at how strange meat Jell-O sounds, and maybe there is a reason you have never seen that particular dish on a menu anywhere, ever. A friend of mine used to love her dad’s Spam cracker casserole but it never occurred to her everyone in the world didn’t eat the same thing until she saw her friends reaction when describing it. Another friend of mine only celebrates Christmas breakfast and never has enjoyed a holiday family dinner, which I cannot fathom; however, it’s probably a smart approach. My mom grew up eating a fancy oyster cocktail on Christmas Day
