Food that has to be......

Traditions with food. This is something I actually know! My mom started traditions with certain foods when I was a child. Christmas for her is a big one. We have things that are a given that have to be made each year, the sad thing is that we may not even like that particular item any more but we've always made it so it has to be done!! Each Christmas for my 41yrs, my mom has made a candy from a family recipe.. It's called potato candy, yeah, I know, sounds gross, but it's not bad! You basically boil a potato, mash it up, add evaporated milk, tons of powdered sugar to make it in to a thick dough.. You roll it out on the cutting board, spread it with peanut butter and roll it up and then slice it into little pinwheels basically.. No Christmas is complete without this. We may not eat all we make, but it's always been done and always will be.
I guess maybe this means we are too predictable! Ok, I have a weird one for my daughters who are 23, 20 and 14. Their special holiday treat, this is sick sorry and so unhealthy!! But each holiday, their treat is two cans of canned cheese!! You know the kind in the squeezy bottles! It's expensive and horrible for you, so when my girls were really young we limited it to holidays and now as adults and one teenager, they come to expect it!
I love the idea of traditions when it comes to food. I think it is one thing that bonds us as a family and also as a community. Some of the foods that are prepared are ones that have been made for years and it's continued because it is a tradition!