Tis the season for our favorite holiday treats

We asked community members to share their holiday “non-negotiables,” and the answers span cultures and countries of origin, from Latin America to the Mediterranean, with dishes ranging from sweet to savory

The farm-fresh turkey with all the fixings, the perfectly decorated Christmas tree, a generations-old menorah on the window sill, gathering a basket of fruits and vegetables, called mazao, for Kwanzaa … whether it’s as simple as decorating gingerbread cookies or as complex as planning a seven-course meal, holiday traditions tend to wrap us in a warm hug of nostalgia, bringing back a flood of memories from days gone by.

For many, the season would be incomplete without a meaningful dish or drink that seems uniquely personal — call it a non-negotiable. Something that yes, pleases the palate, but does so much more, especially this time of year, when we’re reminded of what matters most.

We spoke with people throughout the community to ask them about their holiday season nonnegotiable; the answers we received are as varied — and delicious — as the traditions themselves. Enjoy!

Jimmy Winters & his Candy Cane Christmas

Jimmy Winters wasn’t born in Newport, but is as Newport as they come, dedicating his work, time, and talent to lifting up the community and helping those in need. His family moved here from Maryland when he was a child. After he graduated from college, Winters spent nearly 35 years with the Newport Police Department, first in communications and dispatch before serving 26 years as an officer.

Since 1978, he and wife Barbara have helped the unhoused community as the founders of the Newport Housing Hotline, which provides housing assistance for both short-term and long-term needs. While he says a holiday meal isn’t complete without the standards — turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and collards — his holiday nonnegotiable is “some kind of really pretty cake.”

“I just like something with vanilla inside and a frosting, white frosting, with some kind of a figure on it, like a Santa Claus hat or a candy cane,” Winters says. The latter especially has become his signature calling card come Christmastime. Years ago, Winters, a talented vocalist, recorded a holiday carol called, “Candy Cane Christmas.”

“I’m not a musician, but I wrote the song, and Tim Smith recorded it, and kids from Pell School sang back up,” says Winters.

The recording raised more than $2,000 for a local child injured in a dog attack just before the holidays. Today, no holiday is complete without a candy cane-themed cake to remind Winters what the season is all about.

Rebekah Rosen-Gomez & the flavors of New York

“For me the holidays have always been about going home to New York. Though our Thanksgiving and Hanukkah meals are fairly traditional, with turkey, brisket, potato latkes from scratch, and all of the fixins, the most memorable and exciting for me is an annual trip to Zabar’s to pick up babka, rugelach and Black & White cookies, bagels and smoked fish,” says Rebekah Rosen-Gomez, the executive director and co-founder of Conexion Latina.

Zabar’s, a bona fide New York City culinary institution, opened on the Upper West Side in 1934. “Family brunch, no matter what holiday or what time of year, elicits amazing memories of my parents, extended family, laughs, so much love, and full bellies,” Rosen-Gomez says.

The Rev. Mark Sauriol & “La Vigilia”

Father Mark Sauriol’s non-negotiable leans into his Italian heritage. Around 25 years ago, the pastor of St. Mary’s and St. Augustin’s Catholic parishes in Newport created a new family tradition by hosting a traditional “La Vigilia” or Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner — with a scheduling twist.

“Being a priest and all, I’m not available on Christmas Eve, so we celebrate the day before Christmas Eve,” he explains. “It’s a wonderful day, and everyone seems to be available. My nephews and nieces are now in their 30s, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Sauriol says the gathering typically brings around 15 family members from far and wide to Newport, where they also enjoy the shops and restaurants. The feast typically begins with hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, which can include baked stuffed shrimp, snail salad, mussel salad, calamari, fried smelts, crab cakes, cod cakes, and more.

“Last year I went to Anthony’s Seafood and picked up a bunch of oysters,” he says. “We can have everything from eels on the table, octopus, shrimp scampi with a little side of pasta — but very little, there are very few carbs on the table. The main course could be lobster, but it changes every year. What seafood is available is what determines the meal.”

The family enjoys multiple courses in a delicious ordeal that lasts around three hours. Inspired by his own joyful family experience, Father Sauriol is planning a ticketed La Vigilia event this December with an Italian chef. For more details, visit www.stmarynewportri.org.

Karla & traditions from Guatemala

Newport resident Karla grew up in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Her Christmas non-negotiable is savoring handmade tamales with family while drinking ponche (or “ponche de frutas”), a traditional warm holiday drink made with fruit, cinnamon and spice. The Guatemalan ritual has been passed down through generations. Her grandmother taught her aunts and her mother how to make the tamales, and the women taught Karla. She starts by cleaning banana leaves, filling them with chicken or pork, then tying them snugly before they go into the oven.

Preparing the food and the ponche is an annual family affair. Cooking gets underway around 6 p.m.
with the meal served at 8 p.m. Karla makes about 20 tamales here in Newport, but in her native Guatemala, she and her family typically make more than 100! Afterward, they stay up together until
midnight to celebrate Christmas’s arrival.

Marisa and Johana & flavors from El Salvador

Originally from El Salvador, Marisa and Johana, co-workers and friends, agree that their Christmas non- negotiable is traditional Panes con Pollo. The pollo (chicken) is heartily seasoned and stewed, then mixed with bread to thicken the sauce. Shredded cabbage and carrots with added hot pepper are turned into slaw.

Diners build sandwiches of stew, slaw, mayo, and any other desired condiments. The sandwiches are enjoyed on Christmas Eve, typically accompanied by ponche de frutas or horchata, a Latin American drink that can vary by country. Traditional El Salvadoran horchata is made with a blend of spices and seeds.

Geherly, Sulma, and Gabby & memories of Peru

Siblings Geherly and Sulma, and Sulma’s daughter Gabby, are from Peru, and their holiday non-negotiable is welcoming Christmas at midnight with panettone, the traditional Italian bread, slathered with butter and served with hot chocolate. The sweet pairing fills them with joy and nostalgia and, even after living in the U.S. for many years, brings back cherished memories of home, family, and childhood.

Charlie Holder & traditions from Greece

“My mom makes a traditional Greek pastry known as baklava throughout the holidays,” says Charlie Holder, Newport’s mayor. “Hers is the absolute best — I’ve had others, but I’ve never had a better one than my mom’s.” The sweet, flaky pastry made with layers of paper-thin phyllo dough filled with chopped nuts has roots that trace to ancient Mesopotamia.

Holder’s mother, Elaine, has been well known in Newport’s hospitality industry for decades, and the dessert celebrates her Greek heritage. Holder says her trick to making the perfect baklava is using simple syrup in lieu of honey, but it also comes from a lifetime of making the sweet treat. “She learned how to make it from scratch from her mother, my grandmother,” he says. “I remember helping my grandmother by grinding the walnuts.”

Although he’s been looped in on the basics of how to make baklava, Holder prefers to leave it to the best. “My mom has tried to show me before — she can make it with her eyes closed, but I’m going to leave it to her!”

Daniel Cano Restrepo & flavors from Columbia

Originally from Medellin, Colombia, Daniel Cano Restrepo has called Newport home since 2017, but the flavors of home are his non-negotiable when it comes to celebrating the holiday season.

“Our family is big on empanadas of all sizes as well as hojaldras,” he says. While empanadas are enjoyed year-round, hojaldras, also called hojeulas, are a traditional Colombian treat; light and crisp fried dough dusted with sugar. “We all get together, some mix the flour, some cook them, but everyone does their part. Colombian Christmas music, dance, and drinks are a must for the celebration,” explains Restrepo, who recently moved on from his role as executive director of Newport Pride.

But it’s more than just the sweet treat itself that excited him. “What I love the most is seeing the interaction with other neighbors doing their own meals and everybody gets to share. It feels like a sense of community.

Ellen Pinnock & memories of her great grandma

“Every Thanksgiving I make my great grandma GG’s collard greens with smoked turkey. She passed when I was a child, but I can remember being five years old and sitting with her while she taught me to wash and season them,” recalls Newport’s Ellen Pinnock, who serves as Director of Community Engagement and Equity at FabNewport, and is a Newport City Councilor. “She would scoot around in her chair grabbing ingredients and humming, stopping to show me the onion powder or garlic powder so I would remember all that went into the pot. Nothing was ever written down.”

Pinnock says Grandma GG always dropped in two sugar cubes to the recipe to “add the love in and take the sour out.”

“And to this day I do the same. She’s the reason I believe cooking for others is a love language. I felt the most seen and the most loved as a child in GGs kitchen no matter what the day, but Thanksgiving always felt just a bit more magical next to her.”