A Few of My Favorite
Holiday Things
by Ann D. Wallace
Jane Seymour
movie and television actress
Since my mother is Dutch, we would celebrate the “Feast of St. Nicholas”—the special Dutch holiday event—before Christmas in England. During the evening, my father would disappear, and suddenly, disguised as St. Nick, he would surprise us at the window and throw tons of candy into the room. All the kids dove for it, grabbing as much as they could. Then we exchanged funny gifts with clever rhymes we had to come up with that teased the recipient. These gifts were never expensive, but very funny and personal.
Shelley Morrison
comedic actress
My favorite holiday memory of the last several years has been to take my young nieces and nephews to the Union Rescue Mission and have them help feed and serve the homeless people of Los Angeles. I learned about helping others at an early age during World War II when my mother would pick me up from school, and we would go to the Red Cross to fold bandages for the soldiers. It empowered me to know that one can be of service to one’s fellow human. Our nieces and nephews look forward to the times spent serving others. The tradition goes on. It’s a simple thing to do, but very powerful.
Prudence Sloan
host of the TV cooking show “Let’s Eat!”
I wish I could say I grew up with fantastic memories of the holiday foods my family put together, but that just wasn’t the case. My mother was a wonderful person, but a terrible cook. And so, holiday meals consisted of overdone roast beef that had the texture of shoe leather, Yorkshire pudding that never came out the same way twice, soggy broccoli and store-bought, frozen chocolate cream pie. Her cooking certainly contributed to my love for it—I call it “self-survival.” At the age of 13, I took over cooking the family meals and eventually all the holiday meals—something I look forward to every year. Being the head chef during the holidays also meant I got to start food traditions. Now, the younger generation can’t remember Thanksgiving without brown braised, smoked mushrooms or my Cuban lobster with salsa verde on Christmas Eve. But, in honor of my mother, we still have roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on Christmas day. Only this time, it’s cooked to perfection!
Ann Wallace is a freelance writer and photographer residing in Winter Park, Florida. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Billboard, CD Street and Orlando Magazine among other publications. She has interviewed celebrities, activists and politicians while raising four daughters.
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