Rituals For You

I started helping in the kitchen when I was still a toddler. I remember being tasked with carrying bowls and stirring the pots, easy assignments one can do with tiny hands, limited motor skills, and a short memory! Cooking brought much joy into my life and is still a wonderful tradition in my family. Soon, it will be the season to bake holiday cookies, and I will start looking at my cookbooks for recipes. Whenever the holiday season rolls around, I open and close about five cookbooks or specialty magazines. I even sometimes browse through Pinterest for good ideas.

Ultimately, we will mostly make the same ones we did last year and the year before. Whenever we skip one, someone asks what happened to it. While we always try some little changes each year, offering the same ones seems to bring comfort and joy to others.

Our annual cooking-baking tradition occurs roughly the same weekend each year. The bakers may change based on who lives nearby or who must work that weekend — those who can make it will bake and listen to music. For the past few years, Alexa has helped. She handles timing well. Funny, if you ask Alexa at the end of the day, how was your day? Alexa says I did a lot of timing.

Planning and hosting the annual baking event is a ritual for me that goes back over 45 years.

Rituals matter. Food is a source of delight for almost all of us. So, consider how rituals around meal planning, celebrations, cookbooks, and traditions play in your life. Let’s share the stories and sustain these ways we connect and enjoy each other’s company.