There are very few people, let alone men, that I’d go out of my way. But, my father, my husband and my brothers are a few. So, I’ll spend most of my day off making food for our intimate family Christmas gathering.

Cooking is a joy to me. It reminds me of the matriarchs in my family that would spend days preparing a massive family meal which included pudding, chitterlings, peas and rice, collard greens, candies yams, Mac and cheese, bread pudding, homemade coconut cake and so much more. So many people used to come to my grandmother’s house on Hicks Street in the Bronx we ate in shifts. But everyone bowed their head for the meal blessing. It was such a special occasion we’d also use the good dishes from her china cabinet that had to be hand washed.

My mother carried on the tradition at our home for as long as she could. A couple of years before she died, the big spoon was passed to me.

So my sweater for day 23 of my Christmas countdown is a salute to putting out or making an effort to for the magical people in our life, even if their none of them have the name Santa.

#santa #MerryChristmas#christmascountdown #christmassweater #holidayseason #spoonie #invisibleillness #chronicillness #cooking #familymeals