Jennifer’s son, Braden, making tamales
Along with a sense of trust, belonging, safety, and caring for each other, what truly defines a group of people as a “community” are the traditions they share. We look forward to embracing your holiday customs and forming our own “Carnegie Traditions” in 2024. Until then, we hope you enjoy learning what makes the holidays special for the team at The Carnegie, from cherished activities to fourth-generation family recipes.
Jennifer Pastora, General Manager
One of my favorite holiday traditions is making homemade Honduran tamales with my family on December 23 each year. My Nana always makes the masa, which is the base of the tamale, and she has been going to the same market in the mission of San Francisco for the past 40 years! Four generations of family gather in my parents’ kitchen, and together we make hundreds of tamales to share with loved ones.
Malinda Smith, Sales Director
Every year, my kids and I like to make peanut butter-chocolate cookies on Christmas Eve for Santa and Reindeer Mix for his trusty helpers. After the cookies cool, we set a plate out for Santa – with a glass of milk, of course – by the Christmas tree. For the reindeer, we go outside and sprinkle the mix so they can eat while Santa leaves his gifts. We follow this tradition with a reading of T’was The Night Before Christmas. On Christmas morning, my kids always wake up excited to see that the cookies have been nibbled on – or sometimes gone if ‘Santa’ is feeling particularly hungry… — and then they rush outside to see if the reindeer mix had been eaten. To their surprise, many of the pieces are gone and sometimes there’s even a little reindeer fur left behind!
Michelle Rogers, Sales Director
My family loves celebrating the holidays by participating in a cookie exchange. Grandma Shirlee started the tradition, and it has brought so much joy to my entire family.
Sam Martin, Senior Director of Development
My grandmother has made Waldorf Salad for Christmas every year since before I can remember. My first memory of having it was at the house of my great-Grandma Webster – my Grandma Wanda’s mother. Grandma Webster would only make Waldorf Salad for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and when she passed away my Grandma Wanda took over the tradition.
Christmas Day beignets
Courtney Heyboer, Sales Coordinator
Mommy and Me sugar cookies was a tradition started by my late mother to provide a fun activity for my brother and me during the holidays. While decorating and eating the cookies was always a delight, the best part was getting to help mix the ingredients with our hands. There’s nothing better for kids than getting their hands dirty! But, in this case, they tasted pretty good too. I’m excited to share this tradition with my two girls…though baby Marigold won’t get to enjoy the final product yet as she’s strictly on a milk diet for now! The continuation of this tradition is also a great way to share memories of my mother, and she would be thrilled to know the cookies live on in her memory.
Mayela Ngimbi, Move-In Coordinator
I’m originally from Congo, where there is a bit of French influence, so my family has always made beignets from scratch on Christmas day! Beignets are actually considered the staple dessert in Congo, even though we don’t tend to eat a lot of sweet foods.
We hope you enjoyed learning more about our traditions, and we wish you a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and meaningful time spent with those you love!
