These days, celebrating is strange but necessary. Since our daughter and her partner Dan came home for the holidays to join our “pod” I figured we should engage not in only our own holiday food traditions, such as making and decorating (very specific) cookies, but try out some others as well.

We had “virtual” help, thank goodness. Our friend Arlene walked us through latke making via video chat (her article on the subject is a classic and includes the recipe we used). We gathered all the ingredients and accompaniments (apple sauce, sour cream and cinnamon sugar), debated about how to get as much liquid as possible out of the potato mixture, and had a grand time splattering oil all over the stovetop during the frying process. The result were delicious, crispy creations that didn’t last long around our house.

So, why not try our hand at tamales, as well? We got tamale making advice from a number of sources, including my intern Jennifer, one of my daughter’s friends, and some You Tube videos. (There’s also this article by Laura Wilmot Sheehy which I forgot about until we were done!) Our results probably would make experienced tamale makers laugh – inconsistant sizes, fillings spilling out into from their masa dough – but they tasted pretty darned good to us. Especially with liberal slatherings of homemade green and red salsas using the last of our garden tomatillos and tomatoes.

As a folklorist, I am supposed to be safeguarding against cultural appropriation. There is, I am well aware, a fine line between cultural appreciation and appropriation. I’d like to think we didn’t cross that line by trying out some other celebratory holiday food traditions. We’re not Jewish or Latino. But we enjoy good food and the joy that communal cooking brings, even if this year that means a virtual get-together.

I hope you all have a great holiday, enjoying foods of your own family and culture and maybe trying something new if you feel comfortable doing so. We’re cooking Thai dishes for Christmas dinner, though I won’t bother my Thai-born friend Ang for pointers as she’ll be too busy cooking for her own family. Probably something very American.