holiday traditions

Valentine’s Day, believe it or not, is just around the corner so it might be good to start planning ahead. Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite celebrations, so I have always tried to make it special for my children. Three fun ideas to try at home:

1. Have your children make Valentine cards this year instead of buying boxed cards. Paper lace hearts always work well as the base of the card, and they look beautiful once garnished with stickers. Make sure you have a card for EVERY child in the class, and don’t forget the teacher. Schools are starting to steer away from candy, so consider omitting it this year.

2. Plan a small Valentine’s Day Cookie Making Party. This has been a tradition in our home since our daughter was two. We invite 9 friends who are all asked to wear red, pink, purple or white. Each guest is also asked to donate one jar of his/her favorite sprinkles. About a week before the party my children and I bake about 100 different sized heart sugar cookies and stick them in the freezer On the day of the party our home is decorated with a zillion paper hearts, balloons, and streamers. When guests arrive they sit and decorate cookies until their hearts are content. Keep the day simple: no favors, no games, no gifts, no lunch, just a simple meal of cookies and milk- does it get any better than that? We also limit the time of the party to an hour, which is plenty of time to decorate, admire our creations, and eat. We write each child’s name on a paper plate so he/she can carry the extra cookies made home.

3. Make a handmade card for loved ones this year. I always stick a Valentine under their pillows so they find them on Valentine’s morning.

If you have any other creative ways to make Valentine’s Day fun, I would love to hear!

Happiness is brightly colored sugar sprinkles all over my kitchen table!

I’m writing this post on Christmas Eve, but by the time you all read it, Christmas will be over. I’m actually Jewish, but my husband is Lutheran, so we celebrate both Hanukkah AND Christmas. This is a boon for the kids in terms of gifts, but what I love most about it is the fact that I’ve gotten to adopt a whole new set of traditions into my life.

Christmas at the Wiley’s is a blast. We generally spend it in Toledo (my husband’s hometown), and that’s where we are this year as well. Christmas Eve is very low key. We hang out in the family room, watching A Christmas Story over and over, drinking fun cocktails, and playing games. We also get the kielbasa started. The kielbasa has to be fresh (not smoked) and in our family, it has to be from Stanley’s. Stanley’s is an old-fashioned Polish grocery store with the most amazing kielbasa you’ll ever taste. This stuff is beyond garlicky. Even double-bagged, it will make your entire refrigerator reek of garlic. But, oh man, it is so good. We cut it up into 2 inch chunks and put it in a slow cooker with beer. And we cook it on low overnight. In the morning, we have a feast of kielbasa, rye toast, pierogies and my husband’s special scrambled eggs (with lots of veggies mixed in). The kielbasa is best served with super spicy horseradish.

What do you guys eat for your holiday meals?

I work on the 63rd floor of a high rise building in downtown Chicago. The elevator rides are long and tedious, but I pass the time by watching TV. Sadly, it’s not anything too compelling. The elevator network is called Captivate, and they broadcast weather, stock information and news snippets all day long. Earlier this week, on my way down to the lobby, I caught a news blurb about holiday parties and kids. Apparently “event planners” (not sure which ones) have decided that the making and decorating of holiday cookies is destroying today’s youth. Their suggestion? Instead of sugar cookies, have your kids create cutouts of whole wheat bread. They can then “frost” the bread with fat-free cream cheese and decorate these delicacies with colorful veggies. Say what?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am all for wholesome eating. But this is ridiculous. The making of cookies is a holiday tradition that children will remember for their entire lives. And we are supposed to get rid of it?

I realize that childhood obesity is a growing problem, but this isn’t the solution. Let’s get soda out of our schools, and substitute fresh fruit for junky after-school snacks. I’m all for that! But the once a year traditions? The family memories? Those are sacred.

I wonder what the food police would have had me make in lieu of the pretty Hanukkah cake that my daughter and I created last week.