Season’s Greetings!

Happy Holidays!

Dear A.S. Family,

Happy Holidays! I cannot believe we are at the end of 2021 already! Thank you for your hard work and dedication to A.S. especially during the ever-changing stages of the pandemic. Each and every one of you continues to embrace the A.S. mission and makes a significant impact in the lives of our students throughout campus every year.

As you know, our executive officers theme for this year has been the Year of CommUNITY. With our full-time and student staff together in person again, it has made me realize how grateful I am for the community and unity that A.S. truly embodies. Thank you again A.S. staff family for all you have done for A.S. and our greater SDSU community this year, and I am excited for another year ahead!

Wishing you a restful holiday season spent with your loved ones and a happy new year!

With cheer and much gratitude,

Christina

Holiday Traditions

In honor of the holiday season, we asked some of our full-time A.S. staff to share their favorite holiday traditions. Read them below!

_______

“November really marks the Christmas season for my family. My mom literally brings out all of the Christmas decorations and faux Christmas trees (we typically have two trees around the house) the day after Halloween. Christmas music blasts throughout the house while everyone is busy decorating. The kids love decorating the smaller Christmas tree with a theme. For example, last year we had a tsum tsum decorated tree (tsum tsums are Disney character dolls but as tiny bean bags). My mom multitasks, per usual, and somehow cooks a full breakfast while setting up the big tree in the living room. The breakfast is a standard filipino spread consisting of: scrambled eggs, sunny side up eggs, corned beef, spam, longganisa (sweet pork sausage) tocino (sweet pork) and a generous serving of garlic fried rice. In Filipino culture, this is known as a ‘si-log’. After breakfast we all decorate the main Christmas tree together. This has been a tradition that I feel the kids look forward to even more than going out for Halloween. It is a great indicator reminding me that the Christmas season has begun.”

Anthony Cabrera, Aztec Student Union Technical Services Coordinator

_______

“My family’s holiday traditions consist of a lot of food and games. A particular food tradition is making tamales. We sit next to each other and each individual has a step to making a tamale. One spreads the masa on the cornhusk, another places the filling, another folds and wraps the tamale and whoever is at the end places the tamale in the pot to steam cook. It has been fun including my nieces (10, 7, 4 and 2 years old) and teaching them this tradition.

We also play many games. Our favorite is taking challenges from the “Minute to Win it” game show and replicating them. This year we are planning a physical challenge that will consist of an obstacle course, a puzzle and eating something not so appetizing.”

Becky Villasenor, Payroll Coordinator

_______

“My family loves to get together for Christmas and New Years to celebrate. There are a few constants that have become tradition. We always have tamales, warm fruit punch and rompope. My family is from Chiapas, Mexico and they have carried their own recipe for these culinary plates. My aunt usually makes an authentic mole sauce for her famous “Tamales de Mole” (mole sauce with chicken). They also make green chile and cheese tamales and sometimes corn. The Mexican ponche is comprised of piloncillo, a dark-brown unrefined cane sugar, mixed with water and cinnamon sticks. To that, you can add pretty much any winter fruits you want such as apples, oranges, guavas and tejocotes. Lastly, rompope is Mexican eggnog and a favorite holiday drink for my cousins and I. Since rompope is strong and sweet, it is meant to be sipped in small glasses. Traditionally, it is spiked with rum but not necessarily. My family also likes to make them into popsicles to enjoy as a dessert.” 

Luis Valenzuela, Graphic Design Specialist

_______

Like most Jewish celebrations, there is a plethora of traditional food, games and cultural touch points to mark the holiday. Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. It’s based on the lunar calendar, so the dates vary every year. This year it began at sundown Sunday, Nov. 28 and ends in the evening of Monday, Dec. 6. Hanukkah is mostly known for eight special nights, lighting candles on the menorah, making latkes and opening presents. Like most, our family’s tradition is lighting the menorah just after sunset each night or waiting until after everyone is home together. We make our Bubbie’s (Yiddish term for grandmother) (see recipe) famous meatball recipe and latkes (potato pancakes). This year, holidays are still looking a little different. With my family mostly out of town, we celebrate over video chat. We love to see the world through my daughter Mila’s eyes. This year is her second Hanukkah experience. The first few nights have been filled with laughter over video chat while lighting the menorah and reciting the three blessings thanking God for the miracle or light. Mila’s favorite part has been decorating cookies and opening presents. We are supposed to open a new present per evening, for a total of eight nights. But, Mila has opened a few extra gifts so far!

Jamie Alto, Aztec Lanes Coordinator

Mildred's Meatballs (serves 6 to 8)

Ingredients:

2 large onions or 3 medium (depending on size)

To make meatballs:

2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
Tomato ketchup
Mustard
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
Matzoh meal or flour
Dash of garlic powder
Salt and pepper

To make sauce:

3/4 cup tomato ketchup
2 tbsp. white vinegar
4 tbsp. soy sauce or teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 cup water

Directions:

Season ground beef with eggs, mustard, ketchup, onion soup mix, matzoh meal or flour, a little water, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Roll ground beef into small balls. Roll each ball in matzoh meal or flour to coat.

Mix together ingredients to make sauce: 3/4 cup ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, sugar and 3/4 cup water.

Cut onions into thin slices.

Put a layer of onion slices in the bottom of a large heavy pot. Alternate layers of meatballs and onions ending with a layer of onions at the top. Pour the sauce over the meatballs and onions. Cover pot and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Uncover pot, stir (this will break up some of the meatballs - which thickens the sauce) and bake for about 15 minutes more.

Check to see if meatballs are cooked through — they should be brown! If you double the recipe it may take up to 2 hours to cook through.

This recipe can be made ahead, frozen and reheated. It also is a recipe that improves with age! Each time you reheat meatballs, they get richer and sweeter tasting!

_______

“My favorite family holiday tradition as a youngin' revolved around holiday hoops! For a solid chunk of time, my family and I were deeply invested in the game of basketball. Christmas time meant holiday basketball tournaments and the best games of the year on Christmas Day. In 2021, your boy hardly hoops anymore. Nevertheless, I look forward to Christmas time as it gives me an excuse to do nothing but sit around and eat various delectable treats while watching the big games. I am fortunate that my favorite team the Golden State Warriors has been featured on many Dec. 25 showdowns and will be this year as well. Come Christmas day, you know where I'll be — getting cozy watching the Dubs get the W. Merry Currystmas everyone.”

Matthew Monges, Government Affairs Coordinator

_______

“We moved into our house in December 1986. That year, my friend Carolyn and I got together to bake some Christmas cookies and it turned into a 36 year tradition! We have not missed a year of baking cookies together (I tried a couple times but that was met with a hard NO!). Each year, we alternate houses sharing recipes from our mothers and grandmothers. Through the years, our kids have “assisted” and my grandson now enjoys making his favorite volcanoes (pastry cookies with jam filled centers). It is a day when family, friends and neighbors stop by to enjoy some holiday cheer and lots of cookies. One day this long standing tradition will be passed on to our kids, but until then…”

Vicki Greene, ARC Member Services Manager

_______

“Our holiday traditions are not your typical holiday traditions. For as long as I can remember, my family has always lived in different areas of the U.S. and Mexico but somehow almost every year, we manage to make it back to the family home. Our family home is in a small town called Villa Hidalgo in the state of Nayarit, Mexico. This is where my grandparents live and is a place where all of us have lived at some point as well. For that same reason, this is where we gather for the holidays and partake in our not so traditional Christmas exchange because one gift is a joke gift and the second gift is the real gift. For example, last year my sister got our brother Jared and his prank gift was a pair of 99 cent chanclas (sandals) inside of a fully duct taped box and his real gift was a personalized Wixarika (Huichol) lanyard with his name on it. This usually happens with over 12 people including all the grandkids, parents, grandparents and sometimes family friends and it takes us around 1-2 hours to get through the gift exchange with all the laughing and crying that happens in between. It is something that I hold near and dear to my heart and it is a family tradition that we have kept going for more than 10 years. It started when the eldest grandchildren (my sister, my cousin and I) were in our early and mid-teens and now it’s something that the youngest grandchildren, ages 7 and 12, now have participated in since they were born and something they look forward to every Christmas. Happy Holidays!”

Zamira Fuentes, A.S. Executive Assistant