A Memorable Holiday Gift for Your Teenagers

With busy family schedules today, many families do not sit down together anymore. However, the holidays are the time of the year to bring the family back in sync even though it may be for a short time. The way we bring family back is with traditions. In my family, our tradition was all concerning the food. A few years ago for Christmas, I made a homemade cook book with my teenager's favorite recipes. I called it "Mama Irene's Cookbook".

I grew up around fabulous cooking, whether it was my own family or their friends. On my mother's side of the family, I had a grandfather who was an Italian chef. On my father's side of the family, my grandmother was a wonderful German cook. When my parents, my brother and myself would sit down to eat dinners together, we would actually critique the food. That's how I became a good cook too. So, a few years ago, I wanted to do something special for my teenagers (at the time) because they grew up without the family relatives around them, unlike me. My family lived up north in Chicago and we were the only ones in Florida. So, I decided to create my own cookbook with their favorite meals in them, hoping one day when they were older, they would use it.

I had an introduction page. I called it "Your Family". I gave them our historical background on the regions of Italy and Germany from where their great grandparents came from. I described our holiday traditions and how important the meal was to all of us. My Italian Grandfather specialized in home made raviolis and my German Grandmother specialized in sauerbraten and dumplings. I went into the details of the memories being in the kitchen and watching them prepare their five star dishes.

I had a dedication page explaining how family is the most important thing in their life. I told them you will have many friends along your path, some good, some bad, some long term, and some short term. Nothing, though, is more important than family.

I had an index of appetizers, meals, side dishes, and desserts. Each recipe had a picture of either me alone or with a family member at different stages of growth.

At the end, I came up with "Mama's Tips..." beginning each tip with "Did you know?" I gave them tips on how to plan parties, how to do 911's on meals, how to flavor certain meals, etc. I tried to put myself in the place of a beginner wanting to know the tricks of cooking. Most of all I told them to enjoy cooking. When you are making a special meal for someone, you are giving a piece of love.

It wasn't hard to put it together. Actually, it was quite fun because I was able to go down memory lane myself. When it was ready to be printed, I took it to Office Max to have it bounded.

You don't have to do a cook book if cooking isn't your forte. However, think of your childhood and what stood out in your family traditions. You might have told them several times. However, I know when I was a child I didn't appreciate what was being said to me as I do now. When you put it in writing whether it is a cookbook like, I have done or perhaps a family book with regard to childhood memories and photos, it is something tangible for them to pass on to their children. If you don't think you have time this year to do it in a book form, then bring out your video and do a recording. Wrap it up. Stick it in their stocking. Today, my children are 22 and 25 and they live on their own. They want to relive their childhood memory meals. So now, if they can't drop over by me for one of their favorite meals, they now have that cookbook that they can refer to.