Holidays: Reminisces of the Past

Holidays were the best growing up.

The first was Easter.

We went down to Gramma’s and Pap Pap’s.
She cooked a huge fresh smoked ham. I can still remember the taste. It was like nothing I ever had before. We also had homemade pierogi (cheddar cheese and mashed potato filling was my favorite), Gramma’s delicious macaroni salad, halushki, paska bread, fresh kielbasa, horseradish sauce, and green beans.

Next was Thanksgiving!

We would all go down to Gramma and Pap Pap’s.
The humungous turkey was cooked to perfection, so succulent and juicy! And Gramma’s homemade stuffing and gravy were the best I ever had. We also had mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, baked yams with brown sugar and marshmallows, Brussel sprouts, and macaroni salad.

Finally, it was my favorite holiday, Christmas!

We went down to Gramma’s and Pap Pap’s on Christmas Eve.
She cooked a huge fresh smoked ham. We also had homemade pierogi, Gramma’s delicious macaroni salad, halushki, paska bread, fresh kielbasa, horseradish sauce, and green beans. We also had mince meat pie, homemade nut roll and poppyseed roll, and delicious homemade kolache. After dinner, we opened a veritable mountain of gifts! We, kids, relished seeing all the houses decorated for Christmas on the ride over and back home. We got into bed as soon as we got home. And waited for Santa Claus to come!

After we ate our Easter and Christmas meals, we were each given a piece of oplatki (a blessed wafer). We would go to each family member and break off a piece from the other person and say “God bless you!”

Having the whole family together was just wonderful. The food, the anticipation, and the atmosphere were fantastic. It was truly the happiest of times. I shall forever cherish these memories.

by Zachary Uram
(C) 2024