Family Traditions
By Dina Castro
My 10-month old daughter, Alayna, will celebrate her first Christmas this year. How can we honor the various backgrounds she was born into? As a child growing up in the Midwest I had two main Christmas Traditions that influenced my family memories. My Father is 100% German and my Mother's main influence came from Norway. Now that I have started my own family with a husband who has a Hispanic background what traditions will we carry on for our daughter?
Each of these cultures have centuries of traditions - are there too many to continue? One of America's most traditional symbols of Christmas is the Christmas tree which originated in Germany in the 16th Century and was brought to America by German settlers in Pennsylvania sometime during the late 1820's. Another (Lutheran) custom that originated from Germany was our Advent Wreath with its 5 tall candles that sat in the middle of our dining room table. Growing up in my household it always added to the climax of Christmas to have a family supper each Sunday during Advent which included the lighting of a candle each week with the final one being lit on Christmas Eve.
In Norway, the most important meal of the entire year is the Christmas Eve dinner! This is something that my mother does very well each year. Every year my family attends the Christmas Eve candlelight church service followed by Christmas Eve dinner which traditionally begins with a bowl of Oyster Stew followed by a variety of desserts which are the main Norwegian influence in our family. Each year my mother makes at least 9 or 10 different cookies and my Aunt Edith always mails us our yearly care package of Lefsa. My favorite Norwegian Cookie is Krumkake. And now that I have my own Krumkake Iron, it has become my soul responsibility to provide this cookie each year for our family and even some for my extended family.
By Dina Castro
My 10-month old daughter, Alayna, will celebrate her first Christmas this year. How can we honor the various backgrounds she was born into? As a child growing up in the Midwest I had two main Christmas Traditions that influenced my family memories. My Father is 100% German and my Mother's main influence came from Norway. Now that I have started my own family with a husband who has a Hispanic background what traditions will we carry on for our daughter?
Each of these cultures have centuries of traditions - are there too many to continue? One of America's most traditional symbols of Christmas is the Christmas tree which originated in Germany in the 16th Century and was brought to America by German settlers in Pennsylvania sometime during the late 1820's. Another (Lutheran) custom that originated from Germany was our Advent Wreath with its 5 tall candles that sat in the middle of our dining room table. Growing up in my household it always added to the climax of Christmas to have a family supper each Sunday during Advent which included the lighting of a candle each week with the final one being lit on Christmas Eve.
In Norway, the most important meal of the entire year is the Christmas Eve dinner! This is something that my mother does very well each year. Every year my family attends the Christmas Eve candlelight church service followed by Christmas Eve dinner which traditionally begins with a bowl of Oyster Stew followed by a variety of desserts which are the main Norwegian influence in our family. Each year my mother makes at least 9 or 10 different cookies and my Aunt Edith always mails us our yearly care package of Lefsa. My favorite Norwegian Cookie is Krumkake. And now that I have my own Krumkake Iron, it has become my soul responsibility to provide this cookie each year for our family and even some for my extended family.
