🏁 Axios Finish Line: Food that moves us

"Holiday mom goals" | Monday, December 19, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Amazon   Axios Finish Line By Mike Allen, Erica Pandey and Jim VandeHei ·Dec 19, 2022 Dec 19, 2022 Welcome back! Smart Brevity™ count: 366 words ... 1½ mins.     1 big thing: Home — and well-fed — for the holidays Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   The way to the heart runs through the stomach — and that's especially true during the holiday season. The big picture: The memories and emotions we associate with food are some of the most powerful. "Food memories involve very basic, nonverbal, areas of the brain that can bypass your conscious awareness," Susan Whitbourne, a psychologist at UMass Amherst, tells the BBC. "This is why you can have strong emotional reactions when you eat a food.... The memory goes beyond the food itself to the associations you have to that long-ago memory, whether with a place or a person." Many of us have long-standing holiday food traditions — a specific dish, drink or dessert — that brings all those joyful memories back in an instant. Case in point: Khalid el Khatib, a writer, went viral on Twitter last week when he shared his mom's annual "home for the holidays" menu — an extremely detailed, mouth-watering list of all the food that will be served for the week of Christmas. The list includes Ina Garten's mac and cheese, taco night, a french toast bake and planned trips to local cocktail bars. A response tweet from Katie Rogers, a New York Times White House correspondent, crystallized everyone's reaction: "Holiday mom goals." What are your cherished food traditions for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's Eve and beyond? And how long have you kept them up? Let us know, along with your name and hometown, at finishline@axios.com, and we'll feature them this week.     A message from Amazon From temp to manager: This veteran is celebrating 12 years at Amazon     Anthony is a veteran who started as a temporary associate at Amazon. Thanks to Amazon's free skills training program for veterans, he has been promoted five times and is now a site safety manager. The story: "Amazon made it possible," he said. Learn about Amazon's commitment to veterans.     🏫 Hero du jour We're inspired by this hero, submitted by Finish Line reader Jean Lingg, from Ocean Shores, Washington: "I'm now 90 years old, but when I was in high school, my adviser was my hero. She was the first Black woman to teach in the San Francisco unified school system. She encouraged her students to do their best."  "After graduation I stayed in touch with her until she passed away long after I was married and had children. She was always the one I wanted to know how my life progressed because of her encouragement. ... Now, so many years later, I hear from students who knew her and loved her."   Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: