Kwanzaa Culinarians

Recipes and Food Stories from the African Diaspora

Fruit Puff Pastry

On Community, Connection, Balance & Breakfast

By Lisa C. Johnson of Anali’s Next Amendment.  Kwanzaa and its seven principles gives us time to reflect on community. What does it mean to us? Many of us here at Kwanzaa … Continue reading →

December 27, 2015 · 1 Comment
Candied Sweet Potatoes in Jars

Kuumba: Breakfast Candied Sweet Potatoes in Jars

The Kwanzaa Principle Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) means Creativity. Celebration on December 31st seems quite fitting, because New Year’s Eve is when we think about what we did the past 365 days. … Continue reading →

December 20, 2012 · 2 Comments

Kujichagulia + Cinnamon Frosted Fig Pecan Scones

The Kwanzaa Principle of Kujichagulia (koo-jee-cha-goo-LEE-yah) refers to self-determination. It speaks to defining ourselves, naming ourselves, creating for ourselves and speaking for ourselves. When I decided to start blogging, I wasn’t … Continue reading →

December 27, 2011 · 1 Comment

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Learn more about Kwanzaa

The word "Kwanzaa" comes from the phrase, "matunda ya kwanza" which means "first-fruits." Kwanzaa's extra "a" evolved as a result of a particular history of the Organization Us. It was clone as an expression of African values in order to inspire the creativity of our children. In the early days of Us, there were seven children who each wanted to represent a letter of Kwanzaa. Since kwanza (first) has only six letters, we added an extra "a" to make it seven, thus creating "Kwanzaa." To learn more about Kwanzaa, visit the Official Kwanzaa Website.