You are what you eat. I know that the meaning of that is based on health and nutrition, and yes, I know this is a blog on genealogy, but I believe that some of the most lingering family traditions are set around a table.
There are smells, tastes and foods that take us back to our youth. Everyone has something their grandmother, yaya, or mother made that brings back memories. Some of our most memorable moments are spent together in large family gatherings, celebrating holidays, birthdays, and each other.
Genealogy is so much more than just a list of names of so and so begot so and so. It is history, it is pictures, and it is the living, breathing memories of traditions long held in our families.
So what got me on this topic today? My new enamel cast iron pans. Trying to think what I would cook in them, I chose a food that my great grandmother used to make, sauerbraten. A German dish, I believe she actually learned from my great Aunt who lived there after World War 2.
I am not German, well, my German ancestors are so far back that they arrived long before the American Revolution. Yet when I mentioned what I was planning on cooking, my mom's cousin was like, wow, I haven't had that in years.
Some of the favorite times I have spent with my own daughter, is in the kitchen, teaching her the recipes that my Grandmother made, and seeing her enjoy them just as much as I do. Whether it's the traditional treats at Christmas or a meal made for special occasions, these memories of mine, will travel forward another generation.
After all, isn't that part of what genealogy is about? Carrying forward the traditions, and memories of our families.
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