Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/903160
6 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | NOVEMBER 2017 By Theresa Rossetti, Resident In the next three months, we will celebrate Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. November 12th is National Pizza Day. December 18th is Bake Cookies Day. There are remembrance days with Veterans' Day and December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day. Then there is Black Friday followed by Cyber Monday. Along with these holidays, I'm sure most of us have traditions that we followed with our families when we were young and ones that we have added with our own families, biological and of the heart, as we celebrate now. Which brings me to the story of my first Holiday spent with my husband's family. As I've bored you with before, we grew up near each other, in middle class families, shared the same faith and went to similar schools. Although our personalities are very different, all these things in common should mean our holiday traditions would be similar, right? Ha! While Christmas is my favorite holiday, I love the food of Thanksgiving. The turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, cranberry sauce (from the can, sliced along the lines), the pumpkin pie! 10 months before our wedding I spent Thanksgiving with my fiancé's family. It was going to be pretty much the same, no? I'm sure you've figured out by now that the answer to that question is a resounding "NO!" When we arrived, a long table was set in his aunts' basement with many, many loaves of Italian bread, platters of cheese, multiple varieties of salami, artichokes, peppers, olives, and much more. Champagne corks popped. Okay, they're Italian, so a little antipasto is okay, I thought. About two hours later, out came a huge salad. Okay, good, it's just lettuce and tomatoes I thought. An hour after that, an enormous, steaming platter of lasagna was set on the table. Now I was confused, but too embarrassed to ask about the lack of turkey. I had some lasagna, and figured, "we're done now. Maybe there'll be pumpkin pie at least?" Silly, silly girl. An hour after the lasagna was cleared the turkey, mashed potatoes, roast pork loin (because Cousin Anthony wouldn't eat turkey) and some form of vegetable showed up. By then I was in a food and champagne coma, reminding myself I had a wedding gown to fit into in 10 months. I couldn't eat a thing, causing the older women in the room to worry about me. Picture My Big Fat Greek Wedding and you get the picture. I made it through that day, the wedding and all the days since then. I've learned to pace myself when celebrating holidays with my in-laws, and laugh at the fact that my younger son's in-laws are pretty much like my husband's when it comes to celebrations. The moral of my ramble: whatever you're celebrating in the next few months, enjoy your traditions, keep an open mind about ones that are different from yours and ENJOY!