Croatians in the United States proudly and regularly celebrate their culture, heritage, and traditions with their families and with other Croatians, particularly on Catholic holidays.

Humitas and tamales are often said in the same breath—both are labor-intensive, corn-based dough dishes stuffed with various fillings.

It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I realized nobody else I know partakes in this combination of delicacies on Christmas.

As the holidays approach, Franca is over 4,000 miles from home in Munich, Germany.

The wafer resembles communion bread in my childhood Catholic church, and it tastes like construction paper.

In many Slavic Christian traditions, the bread tells fortunes and predicts good luck and prosperity,

The New Year’s Eve revelries of my mother’s Soviet childhood were notoriously grand affairs. New Year’s Eve in my post-Soviet, Midwestern household is decidedly not.

For me, growing up as part of an immigrant diaspora has meant finding ways to connect to my culture beyond a physical space.