Making New Traditions

Most people have holiday traditions which have been passed down from generation to generation. The worn and stained recipe card from Great Grandma for her famous cookies, fudge, cake or maybe its a savory dressing full of herbs and spices.

Invisible love floats around the house as you dust flour off your nose. Your heart swells with pride hoping she knows how much you cherish this moment of her family tradition.

It is different when you chose to make your home in a new country. Finding the same ingredients is a challenge and more often than not, some recipes are impossible to recreate. It wasn't until today that I realized with the glee of a little girl that just took her first ever batch of cookies out of the oven that I have a new tradition!

In the America during the summer when gardens are bursting with fresh vegetables, you will find bags of zucchini or tomatoes left on your doorstep!  December and January in Portugal is the time  when you are likely to receive lemons and oranges.  On our walks we see bright orange and yellow balls decorating the trees in back yards all over the city.  Our dear adopted family recently gave us a bag of giant lemons!  After I made sweet and tangy cookies the citrus smell was all over the kitchen and I was smiling the entire time.

We are overwhelmed each time we experience how wonderful people are here and how they have shown us genuine care and love. When I gave a box to the Maria Helena at the farmers market she seemed shocked and asked if I made them.  Then she was talking very fast and tugging on her ear!  As usual I nodded and she grabbed me for a tight hug and cheek kisses.  I found out later that what we remember as the Carol Burnett ear tug is alive and well in Coimbra.  It means that something is REALLY GOOD! 

The family where we buy our meat at the large fresh market is so sweet.  A few days after we gave them cookies, Mom, Ana Paula mentioned how good the cookies were and thanked us again.  We got a "thumbs up" from her teenage son! 

We thanked our pharmacist Sara for taking such good care of us.  The men at Cafe Santa Cruz, Luis, Antonio, Luis, Miguel and the men behind the counter were so surprised.  I could hear their verbal Mmmmm noises as they ate the cookies!  It was really cute.  Luis asked for the recipe so I took it in the next day and said I was sorry it was in English, but no problem because he figured it out and was excited to make them.  Our friend Vanea that invited us to her wedding in May and is worried about us being alone for Christmas and New Years.  Our landlady Patricia, our new friend EV from America, and of course our dear family Vitor, Teresa, Little “T” and Ines. 

All of you deserve so much more than just lemon cookies, but I baked as much love into them as I possible could.  For me, December lemons represent warm winter sunshine that settles into my heart because of the kindness of special people.

We are going for a nice walk in the forest of Chopal with our friend EV and I think that will be a nice tradition to continue. New Year's Eve we will be listening to outdoor concerts and watching the fireworks over the river, bundled up in blankets with some hot tea and looking forward to being surprised when I realize I have just made another new tradition.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!