an old family tradition . . .

One of my mom’s Easter traditions growing up was eating her grandmother’s Polish Babka. I’ve made it a few times before using a recipe I found online. When my grandpa was alive, he tasted it and said it was close to what he grew up with. About a decade has passed since I made it, and this year we found the old family recipe, probably brought over from Poland a century ago when my family took their first steps on American soil on Ellis Island. It was written in my great-Aunt Betty’s handwriting on the most beautiful old stationery. I was a bit nervous making it, hoping it would turn out like it should. And I was thankfully and pleasantly surprised that it did! It is traditionally baked in a Bundt pan to resemble a woman’s skirt as “babka” is similar to the Polish word “babcia” which means grandmother. However, my mom grew up eating it formed into a simple round shape, and so we stuck with our family’s tradition. As a third-generation Polish-American who grew up hearing stories about my family’s journey to America, traditions like this are held ever so dearly in my heart. 

Do you have any special family traditions?