And the winner is...

... but first, a story.

Crystal asked what my favorite holiday memory is, so I thought I'd share that to contribute to this activity.

To say that I have a fair relationship with my parents is a stretch. At best we are civil for short amounts of time. I truly have no baggage about this because my belief is that you can't change it, so you must go forward. This is a reason that I love the holidays so much now as an adult, because I can make my own traditions with my new family and they can be truly joyous experiences.

Luckily for me, I had grandparents in my life as a child and because I was a major "oops" and was the only kid in my generation in my family, I got to grow up with my great-grandmothers as well. I grew up when I was young in Pennsylvania (Erie) and Christmas was always a big shindig at my great-grandmother's house in Dubois. Family would come from all over the country and it was the only time of year that I ever got to see most of these people. We would have a big Polish, Catholic holiday that was filled with decorations, paper hats, Polish carols and, most importantly, my grandmother's cooking. She would make pierogi and kielbasa and cookies! Oh my, the cookies! By the time I was in 8th grade we'd moved to Minneapolis and the last Christmas I got to spend there was my freshman year of high school. There were so many people in town that the grandkids were camped out on the living room floor. I remember sneaking down to the cellar (which was surprisingly not spooky, even though my great-grandfather died down there) to snack on my favorite cookies, taking them from the less-obvious reserves, rather than from the cookie trays upstairs. These Christmases are some of my most cherished memories of all. This sense of love and family is what helped me deal with my own, less-than-ideal family.

My great-grandmother died in the spring of '04, still living independently at the age of 96. My other great-grandmother is still alive and living independently now at the age of 99. We're tough cookies in this family. When my Grandma M died I requested 2 things that I wanted.


This ceramic squirrel that I used to play with as a kid. See, obsessions start young!

and this:

A bottle of mysterious liquid (probably some kind of liquor) that she used as the doorjam to her pantry. I played with this thing all of the time when I was a kid and you can only imagine the weird responses I got upon asking for it when she died, while everyone else fought over the grandfather clock and the roll-top desk. The bottle now lives in my kitchen, keeping me company as I cook meals for my family.

Probably too much information and a bit long-winded, but that's my story.

Thank you all so much for sharing yours, I can't say how touched I was by them all.

And now, what you've all been waiting for...

The winner is: Laura Faye!

and the runner up, getting a mini treat bag: Ruthie!

Please email me at squirrelsvegankitchen at gmail with your address and I'll have them out to you!

Thanks again to everyone, this was a lot of fun!