Epiphany

1. 1capitalized :  January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ
2. 2
3. 3a (1) :  a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) :  an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) :  an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosureb :  a revealing scene or moment

Until recent years, my extended family has had a tradition of gathering each year on Epiphany, the Twelfth Day of Christmas - a family reunion of sorts. The timing was a concession to the busyness/business of the Christmas season but also an "Epiphany" gathering seemed to have a bit of magic to it. Ours was a joyful and raucous celebration - in a Scandinavian kind of way - focused on traditional foods and family stories. The centerpiece of the banquet was that wonderful Scandinavian delicacy - chili - with cheddar cheese, saltines and naturally, no peppers. 

{Editor note: My grandmother had to cook with "white pepper" to keep her family unawares of the "spiciness" of the meal.}

Some wry family members claimed the gathering was a celebration of the 2nd Christmas miracle - the existence of 3 wise men. No rebuttal - but be that as it may, the gathering was a mostly stress free day, albeit sprinkled with a few pointed barbs directed at various family foibles - all in good fun of course. The Christmas tree was still standing, but there was no gift angst as Roberts Rules specifying "no gifts" was strictly enforced.

Rosettes

Kransekake

But .. each family had an opportunity to show off their culinary prowess - with a heavy focus on Scandinavian heritage. Snella always took the hours necessary to create a "Kransekake", a Norwegian wedding cake. Doris made the best rosettes the world has ever seen. Carol made lefse so silky it melted in your mouth. The only controversy was white vs. brown sugar. 

flatbrød

And flatbread made with lard and cornmeal. Fantastic with a smear of smør. 

World's only fruit cake

Uncle Dave provided a fruitcake. 

{Editor note: It is a little known fact that there is but a single fruitcake in the entire world. It just gets passed around each year. I might be mistaken, perhaps it is one per continent.} 

Rainbow jello

Ruthie made a 7 layer rainbow jello, a multi-day effort.

Grandma's donuts

Occasionally, someone would try to replicate Esther's donuts or elephant ears and people would politely say how wonderful they were, all the while wondering what it was Esther did to make them so much better. 

{Editor note: it wasn't the cardamum}

Trilbies

To my wonderment, some would bring leftover Christmas cookies (whoever heard of "leftover" Christmas cookies?). Russian tea cakes -"butterballs" to we naifs; Trilbies - the world's best cookie; sugar cookies shaped as tree, star, basic round or with cream cheese frosting; ginger cookies; molasses cookies; peanut butter cookies - with the Hershey's kiss in the middle; spritz, snickerdoodle and of course the ever popular "krumkake". 

Egg coffee

This massive sugar intake required several cups of "egg coffee". 

{Editor note:  But Folgers - NOT Caribou}




In the past few years, as the family patriarchs and matriarchs have died and the family scattered, our Epiphany tradition has lapsed.

And this brings me to Epiphany, definition 2a - "a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something ". 

In this case, my epiphany was not a thunderbolt, rather more like "duh". Through it's absence, I came to realize that this tradition was a good, perhaps a sacred thing, a shame to lose. To my rescue, to his everlasting credit, Phil, first-born son of Snella, has taken this epiphany to heart and convened an annual "Cousin Gathering" prior to Christmas - "searching for an epiphany" - complete with all of the food trappings of the gatherings of old. Well, maybe not, but Grain Belt Nordeast is a new innovation. 

{Editor note: While Phil gets credited here, actually Sue does all the prep work. I follow here a tried and true software development maxim that at the end of a project, you "reward the non-participants"}

Just a few generations past, it was typical for multiple generations to live together in the same home. Or grown family members to live but short distances from their parents and grandparents. But today, in this social media world, we live in splendid isolation, with FB friends and tweets substituting for relationships. We are scattered and separated from one of our core support groups - our extended family. 

Here's my recommendation. Schedule a get-together - preferably in a home - perhaps your own. Don't call it a reunion. Blast out a family come-one, come-all invite. (You can even use social media for this :-) You may just get a few folks, but you'll have a great time and next year there will be more. 

Trust me on this.

Copyright © 2015 Dave Hoplin