Food brings people together, and every family has their own ways of participating in this. Holiday food changes for families depending on culture, ethnicity or long-standing traditions. Experiencing and adapting to new traditions can be hard for some and easier for others, but is loving and accepting to everyone

Alicia Rigamonth, a secretary for Yamhill Carlton high school has her own experience with unfamiliar holiday food. Her husband’s father came to America from Rome, and brought his traditions with him. Since she has begun spending Christmas with her husband and his family, she has eaten a traditional Italian treat called panettone every year.

Panettone is an Italian fruitcake and sweet bread. It originally came from Mulan.

While panettone is an annual treat and everyone in her family enjoys it, Rigamonth has strong feelings towards it.

“Every year I have to choke down a piece of panettone. Unfortunately, she has to eat it every year, and will continue to do so. Let us all wish her well.

Besides traditional Christmas foods, not every family’s tradition must be specifically for the holidays. There are a lot of different foods that are not typically eaten as holiday traditions, but a lot of families have their own ways of celebrating.

Diesel Harper-Larson, a student at Yamhill Carlton high school, has her own tradition that doesn’t involve holiday specific food. She and her family eat pancit every year, a Filipino dish made with noodles and vegetables.

Although pancit can be made in many different ways, Harper-Larson’s aunt cooks it with carrots, green beans, chicken, and garlic on most occasions. Harper-Larson enjoys pancit, along with everybody else in her family, and it’s certainly a staple meal in her family’s Christmas traditions. On the contrary to Rigamonth, Harper-Larson does not have to pretend she enjoys eating her family’s Christmas food traditions.