This week finds me thinking about holidays past. Whether you celebrate Easter or Passover, this week likely contains some memories of long held family traditions. Quite often, these traditions are centered around food.

Do you have memories of holiday dinners from childhood? For me, Easter preparations began in my mother's kitchen, cooking hard-boiled eggs that we later dyed in fanciful Easter colors. I can still remember the smell of vinegar that we mixed with the colored PAAS tablets needed for the dye. Easter morning, my brothers and I searched the house for the eggs the "Easter Bunny" had hidden, along with a basket filled with chocolate eggs, jelly beans and a chocolate bunny. Did you eat the ears off first?

Dressed in our Easter finery, we piled into my dad's car for the short drive to my grandparents' home.

The Easter dinner menu depended on which grandparents were hosting. If we visited my Irish grandparents, dinner revolved around some kind of roast... lamb, ham or a standing rib roast. Side dishes were hearty, usually potatoes and vegetables. A salad made with my grandfather's secret salad dressing and some Pillsbury biscuits rounded out the meal. Note - all the food was served at once. In contrast...

If we visited my Italian grandparents, food was served all day long. Platters of antipasto were followed by Italian Easter pie, a dense pie made with eggs, cheese and Italian salted meats. Next came pasta, and because it was a holiday, it was usually lasagna. This was accompanied by meatballs, sausage, bracciole and (gasp!) rolled pig's skin. After the main course came salad, because all true Italians serve salad AFTER the meal. The finishing touch was the assortment of pastries and cookies from Rispoli's bakery and tiny honey balls that my grandmother made from scratch.

Now that I am my grandparent's age, I can reflect on these meals with deeper insight. This was a celebration of family, an offering of love and abundance from the heart of the home, the kitchen. If you are blessed to gather with loved one this year, celebrate the roots of family that bind us close. For those who may no longer have family or friends close by, may you find comfort and warmth in the the roots that connect you back to the memories of holiday dinners gone by.

What about you? Will you be hosting a holiday meal this year? Will you be preparing a traditional dish to bring to someone else's table? If you'll be spending any length of time in the kitchen, you might find yourself with an achy back. Let's face it, as we get older, the standing, lifting and bending around holiday meal prep can take its toll. So while you're waiting for your water to boil, here's the second installment of "Kitchen Counter Yoga."

This 5-minute video will help you give your back a much-needed stretch while you take a few deep breaths. Consider it a holiday gift from my kitchen to yours...

Wishing you a blessed holiday,

~ Rosemary