Home for the Holidays

Holiday meals provide some of our favorite stories-we recall the Thanksgiving when the novice cook left pumpkin seeds in the pie filling, the last Christmas we had with Dad, a special Hanukkah meal or birthday party, and the way little kids put olives on each fingertip and nibble them off. Holidays meals are sometimes stressful, too. Traditionally, most of the responsibility for planning these feasts, cooking and baking, and setting a beautiful table has fallen on the shoulders of women. Mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters gather their favorite recipes and put forth their best efforts for the people they love (and sometimes for people they merely tolerate). As the women cook and bake, they share recipes and stories. Home for the Holidays: Stories and Recipes is a publication of Women Who Write, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Louisville, Kentucky. For this, our second cookbook, we asked our members and women across the state and nation to submit their favorite holiday stories and recipes. We hope you enjoy our stories and try our recipes. Happy holidays to you and yours!