My maternal grandparents were married on December 25th
and every year celebrated their anniversary by following this tradition. They
in turn, passed it down to my mother who continued it when she married and had
children, and passed it down to us. I cannot recall any Jew I knew who
did not go out for Chinese food on Christmas day.
Chinese food was the first foreign food I
was introduced to as a small child. I spent the early years of my childhood in
Linden, New Jersey, a bedroom community southwest of Manhattan. One particularly
cold and snowy Christmas day my father was under the weather, so rather than go
out to eat in a Chinese restaurant like we normally would, my mother brought in
take-out Chinese food instead. We ate Chinese food often throughout the year,
and my mother frequented a neighborhood Chinese take-out. We got to know the
owner, a kind and generous older Chinese man who always paid me special
attention. That evening, I accompanied my mother to pick up dinner. When it was
our turn to order, I told the owner I didn’t want to eat his food any longer because
he put worms in it. He wasn’t offended, but he asked me to show him the worms. I
pointed to some translucent squiggly-looking worms in the chow mein he was
about to put into a container as part of our order. He asked my mother if I
could come back to the kitchen with him. She said yes. We went into the kitchen
and he sat me on a stool next to him in the preparation area. He showed me how
he cut the onions and how he cooked them. When they were done, he explained
they were not worms, but the same thin onion strips he just cut that when
cooked, only looked like worms to me(I was about five years old). When I was still
not completely convinced, he gave me one to taste, and then I was sold. He and
I were BFF’s after that…I always got extra fortune cookies and almond cookies.
Since this holiday tradition was such an important part of
my life, I was interested to learn more. If you are the curious sort like me,
click the link and read a more in-depth history of the love affair we Jews have
with Chinese food. https://blog.judaicawebstore.com/why-jews-eat-chinese-food-on-christmas/
The
good news is you don’t have to be Jewish to eat Chinese food on Christmas….but
it helps.
However you celebrate the holiday, may
your traditions bring you and yours the joy that comes with the sense of
belonging that binds us humans together.
Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries.
She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an
accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is
trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her
core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her
girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie
lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but
smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited
genetic defect.
Looking for more? Contact Susie at:
Website: www.authorsusieblack.com
E-mail: mysteries_@authorsusieblack.com
Rag Lady Blurb
Recent college graduate
Holly Schlivnik dreams of being a writer, but fate has other plans. A family
crisis throws her into an improbable situation and her life will never be the
same. Determined to make her own luck when things don’t happen the way she plans,
the irrepressible young woman takes a sledge hammer to the glass ceiling and
shatters it to smithereens. The wise-cracking, irreverent transplanted Californian takes
you on a raucous, rollicking rollercoaster ride of her hysterical adventures as
a ladies’ apparel sales rep traveling in the deep South as she ends up finding
herself along the way.
Buy links:
Amazon: Amazon.com: Rag Lady (Holly Swimsuit Series Book 1) eBook : Black, Susie : Kindle Store
Barnes & Noble: Rag Lady by Susie
Black, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Thanks for sharing, Susie.
ReplyDeleteAnna, thank you for reading my post. I am pleased you enjoyed it. Merry Christmas to you and yours. Susie Black.
DeleteThanks for sharing, Susie! regards lynngriffinauthoruk
ReplyDeleteLynn, thank you for reading my post. I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas. Susie Black.
DeleteHi Susie, enjoyed your Blog post, a great little informative and personal story.
ReplyDeleteHi Gini, Thank you for reading my post. I am thrilled that you enjoyed it. Merry Christmas to you and yours. Susie Black.
DeleteLiz, thank you so much for allowing me to share a wonderful experience with you and your followers. Merry Christmas to you and yours. Susie Black.
ReplyDeleteWhen adults take time to treat children with respect, as that restaurant owner did for you, I believe those children, in turn, grow up to be respectful adults. Thanks for the bit of history and the great childhood memory.
ReplyDeleteThat is so true. I try to treat all children respectfully.
Delete