Passing On Family Traditions with my Granddaughters

As we look forward to celebrating Mother’s Day in a couple of weeks, I am thinking about my role in passing on family traditions.  Just like my mother and grandmother before me, we are the ones who pass down family traditions and family recipes to our children and grandchildren.

When Hair Biology wanted me to share my role as a mentor for the next generations, I first thought of how important it is to pass down family traditions to my children and grandchildren.

Passing family recipes from one generation to the next is one of the most valuable belongings that I can pass on to my children and my grandchildren. It’s a legacy that I can leave with them and that they will pass down to their families after I’m gone. My role as a grandmother is to teach my grandchildren about the family traditions that started a long time ago. It’s the torch I pass on.

Passing On Family traditions: Family Recipes

I grew up cooking in the kitchen with my mother and grandmother. Even when I got married, you would find me cooking with my husband’s grandmother and mother. That’s how we shared family recipes. My husband’s mother and grandmother had so many Italian recipes associated with holidays that I have continued to make those recipes every holiday. Before the holidays, we would gather in my mother-in-law’s kitchen to cook traditional family holiday recipes. That’s how I learned to be a great Italian cook by watching and learning from my mother-in-law and her family. It was a family affair to prepare holiday meals.

Sharing Family Recipes is so important.

Sharing family recipes is important when you want to leave a legacy behind. Recipes from their grandmothers to their great-great-grandmothers leave a remarkable gift. My children were fortunate to know their great mothers, Nanny and Gigi. So when I make their recipes, my children remember them.

My sons now ask me for our family’s Italian recipes because they want to make them now for their families.

Making Memories Together

Cooking with my granddaughters is so much fun because they are so eager to help me with all the parts of the recipes, from breaking eggs to watching me sit all the ingredients. Having them help with family recipes in the kitchen will create childhood memories for them. Just as my mother did before my grandmother and me before her, spending time in the kitchen together is a beautiful way to create memories.

It’s a joy having my daughters and granddaughters help me in the kitchen with family recipes. Creating memories and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation will be my legacy when I’m gone.

The Importance of Passing Down Family Traditions

Establishing and maintaining family traditions is a way for families to bond over shared experiences—a way for them to connect to their past. But keeping family traditions going takes some commitment and planning. Holiday traditions are the easiest ones to pass down because many are based on favorite recipes made for the specific holiday. Nanny’s carrot cake is made every year for Easter.

Nanny’s carrot cake recipe also appeared in this post.

Nanny’s Carrot Cake (Great-Great-Grandmother LaMonte)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. corn oil
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 c. flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
2 c. shredded carrots (I add 3 cups)
1 c. chopped walnuts (I add more chopped walnuts)
1/2 c. crushed pineapple (I use the whole can drained)

Instructions:

Combine oil, sugar, eggs, flour, cinnamon, soda, vanilla, salt, carrots, walnuts, and pineapple in a large bowl. Mix until blended. Pour into a greased 9 x 13-inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Ice the cake with cream cheese icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
2 c. confectioners sugar
1/2 c. butter

Optional
1/8 c. crushed pineapple
1/4 c. chopped walnuts

Instructions:

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and butter until fluffy.

You can also add the crushed pineapple and walnuts at this time too. (That is the authentic J.Paul Getty Museum Carrot Cake recipe) I don’t.

Mix well.

My Video for Hair Biology

This is the video I created in collaboration with Hair Biology, which inspired this post today.

It appears on my YouTube channel and Instagram.

It’s so important to celebrate motherhood and the women who make a difference in encouraging us to live our best lives now with confidence and love.

Even at 65, I am still teaching my daughters skills they need to master in their daily lives.

My oldest daughter Lisa is just beginning her journey on social media, so I am sharing everything I know about best practices for social media.

Our sweet Sammy, who is disabled, is learning life skills to live independently and be useful in our community. Sammy is more abled than disabled, but I work very hard at teaching her life skills daily.

Showing my daughters and granddaughters that you can do anything after midlife is something that I will leave for them. Following your passion and being who you want to be is what I give them.

Hair Biology believes in the power of celebrating age and all the experiences that come with it. Therefore, we do not stop teaching when we get older, nor do we stop growing as midlife women.

Hair Biology is all about being bold, breaking barriers, and being unapologetic about who you are today.

Did you know that you can purchase the entire line @target online and in-store?

Or you can shop my LINK  for any Hair Biology product.

Shop Hair Biology

Thank you to Hair Biology for creating haircare products for women over 50ish.

I hope you enjoyed meeting my granddaughters Lucie and Livie. They will be appearing again with me this month as I celebrate being a Nana!