-Isms: Views on life in rural America

Kitchen: a gathering place for friends and family, a place where memories are homemade and seasoned with love.

So many holiday memories center around the kitchen, from preparing a meal to sitting around the kitchen table and swapping stories at the grandparents’ house to being part of the cleanup crew.

Elementary-aged me anticipated the countdown to the first Saturday in December, when our family would bake cookies and make candies. We each had our specialty. Dad made peanut or cashew clusters. Laurie whipped up batches of sugar cookies. Mom stood patiently near the stove, bringing sugar, wate...