TO NEW TRADITIONS
Like it was for many folks, Christmas 2020 was a very strange holiday for me: it was the first time in two decades that I didn't get on a plane and travel to celebrate the season with family. And, stuck at home, there was a lot that I longed for last year. Besides desperately yearning for in-person hugs, I missed our usual traditions: a Slovak kapusta soup with sweet poppyseed rolls on Christmas Eve, White Christmas on TV and my niece and nephew waking us all up way too early in the morning so they could open their stockings.
And while I'm certainly craving the return of those traditions—with all the fingers crossed for that to happen this year—in the end, last year's Christmas brought lots of new things to love as well. My friend Chris and I splashed out on a four-course takeout meal, but the real superstar of the evening was a treat he introduced to me to—one of his own family favourites. When he arrived for dinner, he brought with him a wheel of Mont d'Or—which, as Paris-based writer David Lebovitz says, is a truly spectacular cheese. It's really only available at this time of year (hence it being a favourite holiday tradition for Chris) and it's a gooey, stinky, almost liquid piece of heaven. We dug into it with a loaf of great bread, some good wine and yet another Zoom with friends in the city who were having their own shelter-in-place Christmas experiences.
If you also experienced a few bright sides to switching up your own traditions, you might be looking to add in something new to your holiday table this year as well. To help you out, our food editor Neal McLennan has rallied chefs across the West to share their own personal holiday recipes. No surprise: it's not just the usual turkey and mashed potatoes (though we do have plenty of tips on how to prepare the former on page 68, courtesy of Julie Van Rosendaal). I know I'll be following bartender Shawn Soole's lead and adding añejo tequila and sherry to my egg nog this year—and, perhaps, some of the ideas in these pages will inspire you to find a favourite new tradition or two of your own.
It's been a long and challenging couple of years, so I hope that your gatherings and celebrations over the coming weeks bring you joy in whatever shape it comes: old traditions, new ideas, or simply going with the flow. For now, from all of us here at Western Living, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season.