Traditions took a hit last Christmas.
As individuals and families hunkered down inside the safety of their bubbles, holiday customs that called for gathering were put on ice.
The world is hardly out of the COVID woods, but as people continue to get vaccinated and boosted, many are relishing the opportunity to get back to the customs they spent years, even generations, nurturing.
Across Chicago and the suburbs, families and friends are getting together to revive those customs that were paused by the pandemic. And many of those events call for giving the kitchen a workout.
In East Aurora, a group of longtime friends will once again gather to dip and sprinkle pretzels. In New Lenox, a large extended family has already joined forces to make the 750-plus ravioli they will eat for Christmas dinner. In Naperville, the beloved themalada started years ago by four good friends is back on. And across the suburbs, cookie sheets are being loaded into ovens as families and friends reconnect while getting up to their elbows in flour.
Meat or marinara?
The only time Rose Haney can remember not getting together the Friday after Thanksgiving to make ravioli was last year when the pandemic interrupted her family’s long-standing tradition.
“My grandmother, mother, sisters and I started making ravioli years ago as a side dish (for Christmas dinner),” said Haney, who lives in New Lenox. “It’s one of my earliest memories.”
The gathering has swelled to 15 extended family members. The busy day starts with Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch. Then the mixing, rolling, cutting and filling of dough begins.
Half of the nearly 800 pasta pillows are stuffed with ground meat, spinach and mozzarella; the others are filled with cheese. When finished, they’re put in the freezer until Christmas Day.
Everything is homemade but, Haney said, nowadays they’ve replaced the rolling pin with the KitchenAid pasta maker attachment, which speeds up things a bit.
“We still fill them by hand and cut them by hand,” she said.
They make 10 batches of 80 ravioli, which takes about five hours. They also make the sauce, based on a family recipe.
They’re trying to devise a way to streamline the Christmas Day routine. It takes two-and-a-half hours to cook all of what they produced which cuts into the holiday, especially because they’re also making prime rib for the gathering of 40.
One thing that will never change, she said, is the cheering that erupts when the ravioli holds its shape.
“It’s a big deal to not let the ravioli break,” she said. “We’re always proud if none of them break open. We laugh about that.”
After last year’s pause, when Haney traveled to her brother’s in Manhattan and then to her sisters’ houses in Indiana to help each group make their own pasta, she is happy the family can gather again in one place.
“It is really special,” she said.
Masa and corn husks
Linda Garza-Rodriguez, Amy Henke, Oralia “Lyle” Anderson and Gwen Sanford met years ago when they all lived in the Brooks Crossings subdivision of Naperville. Their children were in the same toddler playgroup.
Today, Garza-Rodriguez and Sanford are still next-door neighbors but Anderson has moved to Darien and Henke now lives in Oswego. The kids are grown. But the women still gather for cookouts, birthdays, New Year’s Eve celebrations and their annual Christmas themalada, during which they assemble and steam traditional hot tamales.
“We’re the family you choose,” said Anderson.
Making tamales during the colder months is a tradition in Mexican families, she said. Both Anderson and Garza-Rodriguez are Mexican and initially held their own tamale-making gatherings until 2015, when they decided to combine efforts.
Themaladas are group projects because the steps are very tedious and there are a lot of them, Anderson said.
“Many hands make light work,” she quipped.
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After taking last year off, the women are in the throes of organizing this year’s reunion.
“We’re happy to be able to do it again,” she said.
Each participant has mastered a skill, from making the filling to effectively “schmearing” the masa on the corn husks, she said.
“My son learned from my mom to use the smooth side of the husk, which helps the tamale slip out easier. The dough tends to stick to the rough side,” Anderson said.
Everybody brings something to the table. Anderson gives the age-old tradition a modern spin by keeping recipes and tips on a Google spread sheet.
“Linda is the biggest foodie in our group,” she said. “She introduced the Instant Pot (pressure cooker), which makes the steaming process so much quicker and more reliable.
“We all bring our Instant Pots and plug them in,” she said. “And we haven’t blown a fuse yet. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Sharing cookies
Kate Schafer, husband George and their children, Addisyn and Will, have always looked forward to the annual cookie bake at their Naperville home.
With the exception of last year, the tradition has been for the family to invite friends over to make and decorate sugar cookies. Then they hand plates out to family members and neighbors, Kate said.
The recipe belonged to a late next-door neighbor of Kate’s when she was growing up in Arlington Heights.
After last year’s interruption, she said, “It’s good to be back at it.”
“We look forward to making a mess and having some fun,” she said.
Pizzelles for everyone
For as long as she can remember, Lisa Suvanto has been baking cookies with family members in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The tradition started with her grandmother making Italian pizzelles, while she, her mother, her sister and stepsister made other kinds of treats.
Each gathering had a party atmosphere.
“We’d have Christmas music playing and sometimes my mom would order lunch for us,” said Suvanto, who lives in Orland Park.
Her grandmother’s last Christmas was 2018.
The following year, Suvanto said her mom, Mary Ann Battaglia of Darien, made the lacy, sugary pizzelles. Suvanto’s stepfather took a picture of the bakers and “we all noticed a weird light next to my mom. We figured that’s got to be (Grandma).”
They were poised to do it again in 2020, but the pandemic interfered with their plans.
“We’re glad to be back this year, to restart it,” said Suvanto, who plans to make a salted chocolate butterscotch cookie while her sister, Jamie Barton-Walowski, of Darien, bakes a cranberry white chocolate treat and their stepsister, Tessa Babinski, of Chicago, makes a magic bar.
Last year was rough, Suvanto said, not only because the women didn’t gather for the cookie bake, but because they barely saw each other at all while they stayed in their bubbles.
Pretzel Partiers
For years August meant it was time to put the annual Christmas pretzel party on the calendars of 14 friends who live on the east side of Aurora.
“We get together and dip pretzels for the holiday,” Dawn Langenkamp said.
While it may sound simple, she said, “It is so not.”
Each person brings pretzels, colored melting chips, sprinkles and a large Tupperware container.
“The short story is that we all sit around and dip and sprinkle the pretzels and then get to take a full container home to use and share during the Christmas season,” she said.
But it’s the meaning behind the gathering that makes it special, she said.
The friends — Langenkamp, Jennifer Pagonis-Drews, Jodi Orkfritz, Lisa Molnar, Amanda Roberts, Erin Sutherland, Jennifer Gustaitis, Cindy Hoglund, Mary Pedersen, Vanessa Petroselli, Geri Puckett-Sherwood, Kathy Downie, Shannon Walkoe, Melissa Alejandro — wear Christmas pajamas and Santa hats. They eat appetizers and sip wine while they work. At the end of the evening, they trade gifts in a white elephant exchange.
The evening is an opportunity for the women to catch up, share holiday plans and relax.
“No husbands, no kids, a lot of laughing,” Langenkamp said. “It is one of the events we all look forward to year after year.”
Last year’s exception to the rule, thanks to COVID restrictions, have made this year’s restart all the more special, she said.
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Donna Vickroy is an award-winning reporter, editor and columnist who worked for the Daily Southtown for 38 years.