The holidays are upon us. This means parties and gatherings with our family, friends, and co-workers. All of these traditions will include food, whether it’s a large meal or small snacks.
I have a chef friend who will tell you that when we remember a wonderful meal or our favorite food it may not necessarily be the food, but the whole experience that influences our favorites. The environment, who we are eating with, and the conversation we have all matter when we are remembering the wonder traditional holiday food we enjoy. I hadn’t thought about it that way before, but she’s right. This is why people have traditions connected their family meals, especially the holiday meals. There have actually been studies done on why these food memories can be so powerful.
My side of the family can be pretty non-traditional when it comes to holiday meals. We’ve been known to have crab legs for Easter and BBQ for Christmas. My husband’s family though, is very traditional and the kids and grandkids count on certain foods and dishes for holiday meals.
One Krause holiday meal staple is the green Jell-O salad. You may know it as Watergate salad, or the Pistachio Green Fluff, or the Pineapple and Lime Jell-O fluff. Some recipes include cottage cheese, mayonnaise, marshmallows, and nuts (either pecans, walnuts or pistachios). We just call it ‘green Jell-O’ and it does NOT have any of the above ingredients. Our recipe is just lime Jell-O, cream cheese, crushed pineapple, and cool-whip. Above is my copy of the recipe and as you can see, it has been well used and well loved. Although we can pretty much make it in our sleep without a recipe these days.
As we are organizing and preserving our photographs we often come across non-photographic items that can be preserved as well. These items are just as important to preserve and share with our families because they help keep memories and traditions alive.