With the chilling weather of the winter months and holidays approaching it is important to hold the thing you care about close. In the Erin Brackey household, warmth can be found within the family. As a child, Brackey’s parents made sure to make holidays worthwhile. The day after Thanksgiving was spent decorating the house and looking forward to the menu which was leftover Thanksgiving  sandwiches. When all the excitement of decorating passed there was still time to watch “White Christmas”. 

“I always think of traditions and I go back to me being a kid because my parents made it special for me and it’s honestly making it special for my own kids now,” said Brackey.

Another tradition that is being passed down is making Kringla.

“If you don’t know what kringla is, it’s delicious,” said Brackey describing it as a soft cookie that is shaped like a pretzel. “We bake Kringla because my grandma taught us how to do it. And my now my son and my daughter and my niece they all are trying to roll cream line. It’s challenging to make but we dress up and we wear shirts, we do fall things that day and it’s just really fun. And my dad acts like he doesn’t like it but he also plans everything for us.”

Although family is a constant for Brackey, family doesn’t always look the same each year. When she got married she needed to make space for her husband’s traditions too. Brackey’s husband goes hunting the day after Thanksgiving. 

“I could create my own traditions with him,” said Brackey. “A lot of the new ones are better than the original ones.”

Although families and traditions can evolve, Brackey does her best to keep things special for her family during these cold and sometimes stressful months to keep the magic alive.  Like wearing Christmas hats on baking day or aprons that say, ‘Let’s roll with it’ on lefse day.