My Favorite Hispanic Tradition

The holidays roll around and the house starts SMELLING. No, it doesn’t smell like rotten food or sewer waster. The house is filled with the sweet and sugary smells that come with home cooking. Bunuelos, pies, tamales, and chocolate caliente fill the air with their delicious scents. It is hard to resist the temptation that comes with these holiday time treats, especially with the chilly air that makes you yearn for something to warm you up and the promise of family time around the table. However, the promise of the feast is not the most filling part of this tradition.

You roll up your sleeves, you put on your cooking apron, and you would put on a chef’s hat if you had one, as everyone in the family knows. The kitchen is swarming with your loved ones as they scurry from here to there, preparing all the dishes that make the holidays feel complete. You jump in and it feels so amazing to be part of such a wonderful and large family. All of you cook together, eat together, and stick together.  

Later on, after spending hours and hours with the people you love most, you all sit down with exhausted faces and gaze at all the food, ready to be the big feast of Christmas. Everyone talks about what they are thankful for: many say the food, many say the company, the kids say the present, and you say the tradition.This tradition is what makes your family complete. This tradition is what makes you love the holidays.

This tradition is what makes you Hispanic.