"Rice"

     The story "Rice" by Jhumpa Lahiri talked about her father and his specialty in making his famous rice dishes for different occasions. You could tell by reading the story how important this specific hobby of her fathers meant to him. It gave him a lot of pride and joy, and if there was ever any ingredients or anything missing, he never let it affect him. He somehow found ways to improvise, making the dish just as good as the last. This story reminds me a lot about my grandma and a tradition that meant so much to her.
     Every year sense I can remember, around Christmas, the "girls" on my mothers side, (Grandma, aunts, mom, sisters, cousins.) get together for a whole day and make Christmas cookies. It's a day long project because we bake so many different kinds of cookies and with each batch, we times the ingredients by three. It can make for a very long, exhausting day, but all so worth it in the end. My grandma is no longer with us, but we have still carried on the tradition ever sense. It was something we knew that meant so much to her and how much pride and joy it brought to her, having all of us together making memories.
     Having the fresh smell of all the different kinds of cookies fill the house is one of my favorite smells and I can't help but think of my grandma. The one cookie that reminds me the most of her was her favorite one, called clothes-pin cookies. Even though these ones were the most difficult and time consuming to make, she always wanted them. Still to this day, even with her gone, we continue to make them in remembrance of her. Not to mention, they are pretty tasty! Now that we are all older and my sisters and I have kids of our own, I look forward to being able to share this tradition with them as well, for the many years to come.