Family

Life Kit: How to navigate holidays with the in-laws

5:06pm December 18, 2022

For a lot of people, dealing with in-laws is the most stressful part of the holidays. Life Kit's Andee Tagle has tips for working through some common in-law conundrums this season.

Left: A photo of Grandmother Petra. Right: A dish of capirotada sits on a colorful tablecloth.

Arts

Grandmother Petra's love is baked into this Mexican bread pudding recipe

8:01am December 18, 2022

by Wynne Davis

Sweet and savory capirotada was an expression of Grandmother Petra's love for her family, especially at Christmastime. She never wrote it down, so her grandchild had to re-create it from memory.

Left: Mona Grandbois and her sister Doris Adeline Grandbois Ray. Right: Tourtière, a French Canadian pork pie.

Arts

A bit of mystery surrounds a family's tourtière recipe, but it's a holiday favorite

8:00am December 18, 2022

by Wynne Davis

They aren't sure where this version of the French Canadian meat pie came from, but one thing is clear: It isn't Christmas without tourtière.

Left: Marissa Dates (clockwise from upper left), her mother, Ellen, her brother Nathan, and her grandparents Bud and Diane. Right: Marissa's brisket.

Arts

Readers share their favorite holiday recipes with a side of hilarious stories

8:00am December 18, 2022

Recipes for sweet and savory bread pudding, brisket, a French Canadian pork pie and homemade pasta accompany stories both heartwarming and hilarious from the NPR audience.

Left: Assembled cappelletti on a table. Right: James Hamilton's niece Julia Griffin (from left), his daughter Anna Hamilton, his son Robert Hamilton, his sister Susan Hamilton Griffin and his brother-in-law, Jim Griffin.

Arts

Nonna always welcomed everyone. She drew the line when a family dog ate her pasta

8:00am December 18, 2022

by Wynne Davis

Hundreds of Nonna's handmade cappelletti were no match for Barron the Doberman. But Barron was no match for Nonna and her rolling pin.

Singing with James Brown was a great opportunity but the traveling takes a toll

8:22am December 16, 2022

by Eleanor Vassili

In this week's StoryCorps, two women — Sandra Bears and Martha Harvin — talk about their careers in music — which included singing with James Brown.

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Left: Merjem Mededovic in her hometown of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Right: Kljukusa on a plate.

Arts

Savory Bosnian pancakes called 'cousin' bridged a language gap with Grandma

8:01am December 11, 2022

by Wynne Davis

While growing up, Merjem Mededovic cooked with her grandmother and learned names of various things in Bosnian. One recipe she learned is kljukusa, a potato and onion dish similar to a latke.

Left: A family photo of Alan Mishell's grandparents, Florence and Sam Mishell. Right: Alan and his son holding bubaleh they prepared together.

Arts

The breakfast special features favorite pancake recipes from your kitchens

8:01am December 11, 2022

Four recipes feature pancakes — from sweet to savory — from our NPR audience. One's made of matzo meal, another has potatoes. Scallions and sausage are in there, too.

Left: A family photo of Lily Liu and her father, Tai. Right: A plate full of scallion pancakes held by Lily's niece.

Arts

A scallion pancake recipe is layered with thoughts of family, China and a tiny secret

8:00am December 11, 2022

by Wynne Davis

A daughter recalls her immigrant parents and her father standing by the stove making scallion pancakes on Sunday mornings. Her siblings now make the pancakes for their children.

Left: Erin Rhode's mother, Kathy Rhode (left); Erin's maternal grandmother, Velma Freisleben Thein; and Erin's uncle, Bob Freisleben. Right: Bob Freisleben prepares specken dicken.

Arts

Grandma Velma's German pancake recipe is immortalized in a cherished home video

8:00am December 11, 2022

by Wynne Davis

Specken dicken, the not-too-thick, not-too-thin sausage-filled pancakes, are a breakfast favorite that her family makes on New Year's Day.