My informant shared a fond memory and tradition her and her Grandma Win had which involved cooking stuffed cabbage on cold Winter Nights. Although she did not exactly remember the recipe she said that her grandmother’s stuffed cabbage recipe included cabbage, veal, tomato and onion. She said that although her Grandma was German most of the dishes she cooked were of Polish influence. She also noted that this recipe was one of her favorites as a child because she has sentimental memories cooking this dish with her grandmother. This tradition existed prior to when my informant and her grandmother started making this dish together. The informant’s mother and her mother used to make the same dish on cold Winter nights as well!

My informant, a Chinese-American, discussed common Chinese rituals following a funeral. In Chinese culture after a funeral you are not supposed to go home immediately, rather you are supposed to walk around, perhaps around the block, or in a park, so that the ghosts don’t follow you, or so they get lost themselves. Also, you are supposed to take “hell money” (money used in the after world) when you are walking and throw it in in the other direction. My informant said that it is customary to throw money ten times. The purpose of this is so that the ghosts chase the money, and in a sense give the people an escape route on their way home. They don’t want the ghosts to follow them home, especially during a time when their family is in a vulnerable state. It is important to note that Chinese are very superstitious of ghosts.

My informant shared a cooking tradition that involved her grandmother with me. My informant told me that her Grandma Win used to make a German cake called a “babka”. Although the cake is typically made on Easter Sunday, her Grandma Win used to make it four to five times a year. She described the Babka as an Eastern European cake with a spongy consistency consisting of almonds and icing. She also noted that many other cultures make this cake and that the Jewish version is more of a twisted streusel. My informant comically added, “When she would make this cake, the feelings I had were not excitement or happiness. I am allergic to almonds, and was more sensitive to this allergy as a child, so I would become extremely angry when my Grandma would forget about my allergy and try to force me to eat Babka. I do not enjoy Babka.”

My informant shared some of her family traditions on Canadian Thanksgiving. She said that her and her family celebrate it every year in honor of her grandma who is now deceased. In doing so it gets them ready for American Thanksgiving which is a month later, and gets the whole family together, often with family friends who don’t have a family to celebrate with and bring everyone together for a nice traditional meal. She said her mom makes amazing homemade carrot cake from a recipe that her grandma gave her and that they wrap pennies, quarters and dollar coins in wax paper and slip them into the cake. This is called a money cake. She said it’s always fun to see how much money everyone gets in their slice! My informant also mentioned that like American Thanksgiving, her and her family go around the table and say what they’re grateful for. Although she has siblings, she has always been the first one to state what she is grateful first, and her father is always last.