Traditions

Today I spent the day with my sister - and for a little while with one of uncles and my dad too. But really I was with my sister. It’s one day a year I can count on us being together. The day before family Christmas that we host. It’s the day we spend in the kitchen working on recipes that Grandma used to make. The cooking takes most of the day to make this one particular dish - Babalki.

This is a traditional Slovak Christmas Eve dish. Grandma would only make it this one time of year. If I had to pick a single dish that tasted like Christmas to me, it would be babalki.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure to eat babalki allow me to explain what it is. This dish is made of homemade dough balls, fried sauerkraut, and Kelbosi. I promise it tastes amazing!

As we spent the day making the dough and preparing the other dishes, we chatted and reminisced about Grandma. We recalled how she went from the one making it, to supervising, to watching a movie in the other room and only entering the kitchen if we called in a panic. We talked about how she would kneed the dough by hand and how we decided a mixer would be a good choice this year.

It’s nice to talk about the past in a way that isn’t sad. It’s nice, really nice to laugh, talk, and cook the day away. There is a part of me that wishes this happened more than once a year. Yet, I know part of what makes it so special is that it only happens once a year.

Tomorrow I’ll spend the day with my extended family. There will clearly be food, lots of conversations, and hopefully no drama. There will be some family that I haven’t talked to since last year and you can be sure the kids - yes that’s still me and my cousins, will likely play some games.

I think my Grandma would be happy to know we all get together. I like to think that she would be kinda proud of my sister and I carrying on the babalki tradition. I’m glad that we spent the time with her when we were young because when we make the food, it’s like she’s still with us in the kitchen.

I hope that this Christmas you have at least one tradition that lets you remember the past with a smile on your face.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann